Is the dawn chorus an adaptation to warm-up the voice in Adelaide's warbler (Setophaga adelaidae)?
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Date
2021
Authors
Vazquez-Cardona, Juleyska
University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
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Publisher
Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Psychology
Abstract
Birds sing intensely during the early morning. I test predictions of the hypothesis that this phenomenon, known as the dawn chorus (DC), is an adaptation to warm-up the voice in male Adelaide’s warblers (Setophaga adelaidae). I also analyze the effects of weather and date on the dawn chorus start time (DCST). I used songs from 29 males recorded in three different years and weather data from a MesoWest weather station. Song performance improves rapidly during the DC, but changes little after dawn. High song-rates lead to rapid improvements in vocal performance. Two out of three measures of performance peak at intermediate air temperatures (Ta). Ta, however, does not exert a strong effect on DCST. Males start to sing later with higher relative humidity, and earlier with increasing precipitation the previous day. This study lends support to the warm-up hypothesis and improves our understanding on the effects of weather on birdsong.
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Keywords
birdsong , song performance , bioacoustics , dawn chorus , Birdsongs--Research , Bioacoustics , Animal communication--Research , Birds--Vocalization--Research , Birds--Behavior--Research , Setophaga--Research--Puerto Rico , Songbirds--Behavior--Research , Songbirds--Vocalization--Research , Songbirds--Effect of temperature on--Research , Dissertations, Academic