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Calling rhythm as a predictor of the outcome of vocal interactions: flight departure in pale-winged starling pairs

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Abstract

Vocal communication plays an important role in the regulation of social interactions and the coordination of activities in many animal species. Synchrony is an essential part of the establishment and maintenance of pair bonds, but few reports have investigated decision-making at the pair level. We investigated temporal characteristics of call exchanges in pale-winged starlings (Onychognathus nabouroup) that could predict whether one, two, or neither members of a pair would take off. Our analysis of these interactions revealed that the overall rhythm of a call exchange, as well as the acceleration towards the end of an interaction, were significantly associated with the type of behavioural outcome. Faster rhythms were associated with higher probabilities that both birds would fly away. Our results confirm the findings of previous studies showing that higher rates of alarm calls indicate imminent departure and highlight the relationship between temporal features of vocal interactions and their outcome.

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Data availability

Data are available in the supplementary electronic material at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7448795.v1.

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Acknowledgements

Patrick and Mary Hulley, Michael Ford and Arjen Van Zwieten helped catch and ring birds; Tshifhiwa Mandiwana-Neudani assisted in organising fieldwork. We are particularly grateful to SANParks for permitting this research and SANParks staff, especially Sharon Thompson as scientific coordinator, Frans van Rooyen and Leane van Vyk, in Augrabies Falls National Park, for their assistance in many ways.

The authors thank Véronique Biquand for her help with statistics and Ann Cloarec for correcting the English.

Funding

This research is part of an International Associated Laboratory project (Vocom) jointly funded by CNRS (France), NRF (South Africa) and Rennes 1 University (France).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, Laboratoire d’Ethologie animale et humaine, Université de Rennes, Université de Caen-Normandie, UMR 6552, Caen, France

    Martine Hausberger

  2. CNRS, Laboratoire d’Ethologie animale et humaine, Université de Rennes, Université de Caen-Normandie, UMR, 6552, Caen, France

    Aline Giacalone, Mariane Harmand & Laurence Henry

  3. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

    Adrian J.F.K. Craig

Authors
  1. Martine Hausberger
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  2. Aline Giacalone
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  3. Mariane Harmand
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  4. Adrian J.F.K. Craig
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  5. Laurence Henry
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Contributions

MH2, LH, MH1 and AC designed the procedure; MH1 performed the field recordings; MH1, LH, MH2 and AG analysed the data; AG, LH, MH2 and AC wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laurence Henry.

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Conflict of interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted. Ethics approval for capture and ringing of birds were granted to Adrian Craig (Rhodes University Ethical Standards Committee, RU-LAD-15-09-0001). Research in the national park and handling of the birds by qualified bird-ringers were approved by the ethical committee of South African National Parks (#HAUM1381).

Additional information

Communicated by: Paula Roig Boixeda

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Hausberger, M., Giacalone, A., Harmand, M. et al. Calling rhythm as a predictor of the outcome of vocal interactions: flight departure in pale-winged starling pairs. Sci Nat 107, 2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-019-1658-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-019-1658-1

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