ABSTRACT Riflemen/tītipounamu (Acanthisitta chloris) are kin-based cooperatively breeding birds, which appear able to recognise their relatives. Here, we investigate the potential for vocalisations to act as recognition cues in riflemen. We identified an appropriate contact call and recorded it at the nest from 19 adult riflemen. Measurements of call characteristics were individually repeatable. In addition, call similarity was significantly correlated with relatedness among all birds and among males. Thus, in principle, these contact calls contain sufficient information for individual recognition of familiar kin, and some assessment of relatedness between unfamiliar birds. To test whether riflemen responded differently to calls of kin, we broadcast calls of relatives and non-relatives as separate treatments in a playback experiment. Focal birds rarely responded aggressively or affiliatively, and their tendency to do so was unrelated to treatment. We conclude that zip calls are suitable kin recognition cues, but whether they are used as such remains unknown.

中文翻译：

---

合作育种步枪兵接触呼叫的个性、亲属相似性和实验回放

摘要 Riflemen/tītipounamu (Acanthisitta chloris) 是基于亲属的合作繁殖鸟类，它们似乎能够识别它们的亲属。在这里，我们研究了发声作为步枪手识别线索的潜力。我们确定了一个适当的联系电话，并将其记录在 19 名成年步枪手的巢穴中。呼叫特征的测量是可单独重复的。此外，呼叫相似性与所有鸟类和雄性之间的相关性显着相关。因此，原则上，这些联系电话包含足够的信息，可用于个人识别熟悉的亲属，以及对不熟悉的鸟类之间相关性的一些评估。为了测试步枪手对亲属的呼唤是否有不同的反应，我们在回放实验中将亲属和非亲属的呼声作为单独的处理进行广播。焦点鸟类很少有攻击性或亲和性的反应，它们这样做的倾向与治疗无关。我们得出的结论是 zip 调用是合适的亲属识别线索，但它们是否被这样使用仍然未知。