Quantifying song categories in Adelaide's Warbler (Setophaga adelaidae)

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Date
2019
Authors
Kaluthota, Chinthaka D.
Medina, Orlando J.
Logue, David M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer
Abstract
Many migratory wood-warblers in the genus Setophaga divide their song repertoires into two categories. Category B songs are usually sung before dawn, with immediate variety and short latencies between songs, whereas category A songs are sung exclusively after dawn, with eventual variety and longer latencies between songs. Songs in different categories may also differ with respect to their acoustic structure. We used an unsupervised clustering algorithm to identify song categories in Adelaide’s Warbler (Setophaga adelaidae), a year-round territorial species. We identified two categories of song types, the characteristics of which are similar to song categories in other migratory wood-warblers. Clusters were not well separated, suggesting that song categories may not be discrete. Song structures in the two categories were similar, but category B songs were shorter and had fewer notes than category A songs. On average, dyads of males shared more category B songs than category A songs, and were more likely to use category B songs when song type matching other males. The most important song delivery variable for separating clusters was residual average run length (residual values control for covariation with time of day), followed by percent of songs delivered before dawn, residual latency, and percent of songs used as song-type matches. We recommend a scheme based on the first three variables to classify novel song types.
Description
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of Ornithology.
Keywords
Neotropical birds , Singing modes , Song repertoires , Song types , Year-round territoriality , Wood warbler , Adelaide's warbler
Citation
Kaluthota, C. D., Medina, O. J., & Logue, D. M. (2019). Quantifying song categories in Adelaide's Warber (Setophaga adelaidae). Journal of Ornithology, 160, 305-315. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-01623-w
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