TY - JOUR
T1 - Soft calls do not modulate aggressiveness in male common cuckoos toward conspecific territorial intruders
T2 - A sequential playback study
AU - Moskát, Csaba
AU - Elek, Zoltán
AU - Hauber, Márk E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - In many bird species loud broadcast calls serve as aggressive signals with a large effective radius, whereas soft calls may indicate aggression at a closer distance, and are often directed at a nearby conspecific individual. Male common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) are famous for their simple cu-coo calls, which are long-range broadcast calls, uttered in long sequences during the breeding season. Cuckoos also produce soft calls, including a single gowk (wah), a series of gowks (gowk series), or a harsher single variant, the guo call. To our knowledge, no previous study has attempted to understand the function of cuckoos’ soft calls. We conducted a sequential playback experiment by (i) first attracting male cuckoos with “cu-coo” calls, and then (ii) playing heterospecific control calls or one of several types of cuckoo soft calls. While the “cu-coo” call attracted focal males, neither the soft conspecific calls nor the heterospecific control calls elicited an additional response. Finally, the gowk series calls did not alter cuckoos’ approach to the speaker when played together with “cu-coo” calls. As cuckoos’ soft calls did not increase or decrease aggression, they instead may advertise the cuckoo's presence and position for a nearby conspecific.
AB - In many bird species loud broadcast calls serve as aggressive signals with a large effective radius, whereas soft calls may indicate aggression at a closer distance, and are often directed at a nearby conspecific individual. Male common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) are famous for their simple cu-coo calls, which are long-range broadcast calls, uttered in long sequences during the breeding season. Cuckoos also produce soft calls, including a single gowk (wah), a series of gowks (gowk series), or a harsher single variant, the guo call. To our knowledge, no previous study has attempted to understand the function of cuckoos’ soft calls. We conducted a sequential playback experiment by (i) first attracting male cuckoos with “cu-coo” calls, and then (ii) playing heterospecific control calls or one of several types of cuckoo soft calls. While the “cu-coo” call attracted focal males, neither the soft conspecific calls nor the heterospecific control calls elicited an additional response. Finally, the gowk series calls did not alter cuckoos’ approach to the speaker when played together with “cu-coo” calls. As cuckoos’ soft calls did not increase or decrease aggression, they instead may advertise the cuckoo's presence and position for a nearby conspecific.
KW - Acoustic signalling
KW - Eurasian collared dove
KW - Gowk calls
KW - Guo calls
KW - Playback
KW - Short range communication
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148697347&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85148697347&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104840
DO - 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104840
M3 - Article
C2 - 36738942
AN - SCOPUS:85148697347
SN - 0376-6357
VL - 206
JO - Behavioural Processes
JF - Behavioural Processes
M1 - 104840
ER -