Institute of Biology & Biotechnology, University of Rzeszów, Rejtana 16C, 35-959, Rzeszów, Poland.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Lodz, Pl. gen. J. Hallera 1, 90-647, Łódź, Poland.
Sci Rep. 2021 Nov 23;11(1):22769. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-02034-3.
Vocal communication of woodpeckers has been relatively little studied so far, mostly because majority of species use drumming to communicate. Our recent study on the Middle Spotted Woodpecker revealed that a call which is specific for floaters is individually distinctive and functions as a vocal signature of unpaired individuals. The aim of the current study is to investigate whether a contact call of paired territory owners of the same species enables discrimination of individuals and their sex. Acoustic analyses revealed that the call is individually distinctive and experimental approach confirmed that woodpeckers are able to distinguish between a contact call of their partner and a stranger. We also found that the contact call shows significant sex differences. Interestingly, the acoustic parameter enabling sex identification is different than the parameters coding individual variability of the call. The design of a call so that its first part would code the identity of an individual and the second part would code its sex presents an effective and fine-tuned communication system. The results of our study also suggest that the contact call of paired Middle Spotted Woodpeckers may be useful for conservation biologists as a tool supporting other census methods.
迄今为止，对啄木鸟的声音交流的研究相对较少，这主要是因为大多数物种使用啄木声来进行交流。我们最近对斑姬啄木鸟的研究表明，一种专门用于浮木的叫声具有个体独特性，是单身个体的声音特征。本研究旨在调查同种配对领域拥有者的接触叫声是否能够区分个体及其性别。声学分析显示，这种叫声具有个体独特性，实验方法也证实了啄木鸟能够区分它们伴侣的接触叫声和陌生者的接触叫声。我们还发现，接触叫声存在显著的性别差异。有趣的是，能够进行性别识别的声学参数与编码叫声个体可变性的参数不同。这样设计叫声，使其第一部分编码个体身份，第二部分编码其性别，构成了一种有效且精细的交流系统。我们研究的结果还表明，配对的斑姬啄木鸟的接触叫声可能对保护生物学家有用，作为支持其他普查方法的工具。
