Variable or atypical? Comparing unusual songs of the Tufted Titmouse with a citizen-science database

Mark E. Hauber, David M. Taylor, Jeffrey D. Brawn

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor is well known for its stereotyped “peter-peter-peter” song, but anecdotal reports of its song’s diversity also exist. We identified an atypical song in East-Central Illinois, USA, that has persisted for several years in the same vicinity. We used a spectrogram-based comparison metric to assess song similarity scores against con- and heterospecific songs from a citizen-science database. The results suggest that these novel songs may truly be outliers beyond the Tufted Titmouse’s local range of species-typical song variability. Our study also illustrates a methodological approach regarding the assessment of other, potentially atypical vocalizations recorded from birds.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)313-316
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Ornithology
Volume162
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2021

Keywords

  • Behavioral repertoire
  • Song variation
  • Titmice
  • Xeno-Canto

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Animal Science and Zoology

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