Proudfoot Connor, Norton William H J
School of Biological Sciences, University of Leicester, University Rd, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.
Behav Ecol. 2025 Jun 12;36(4):araf070. doi: 10.1093/beheco/araf070. eCollection 2025 Jul-Aug.
Noise pollution is a global threat to biodiversity, significantly affecting acoustic communication in birds and other taxa. While European robins () adjust their songs in response to urban noise during the breeding season, little is known about song adjustments during the non-breeding season, when song plays a crucial role in survival by helping secure winter territories with adequate resources and shelter. To better understand the effect of noise on avian communication, we investigate whether robins modify their non-breeding song in noisy environments. We analyed the autumn songs of 25 robins exposed to varying background noise levels and found that robins increase the minimum frequency of their songs and extend phrase duration by singing fewer but longer syllables per phrase in noisy environments-adjustments that may mitigate acoustic masking. Our results provide valuable insights into the broader impact of urbanization on bird communication and highlight the need to consider non-breeding vocal behavior in conservation efforts. These findings underscore the year-round impact of noise pollution on birdsong, suggesting it affects various aspects of avian life history. However, it remains unclear whether these adjustments have evolutionary consequences for survival, as changes in key song parameters may affect how rivals interpret signals. Therefore, future studies should explore how vocal plasticity influences winter territory quality, predation rates, and individual survival.
噪音污染是对生物多样性的全球性威胁，对鸟类和其他生物类群的声学通讯有显著影响。虽然欧洲知更鸟在繁殖季节会根据城市噪音调整它们的歌声，但对于非繁殖季节的歌声调整却知之甚少，而在非繁殖季节，歌声通过帮助确保拥有充足资源和庇护所的冬季领地，对生存起着至关重要的作用。为了更好地理解噪音对鸟类通讯的影响，我们研究了知更鸟在嘈杂环境中是否会改变它们的非繁殖期歌声。我们分析了25只暴露于不同背景噪音水平下的知更鸟的秋季歌声，发现知更鸟会提高歌声的最低频率，并通过在每个乐句中唱更少但更长的音节来延长乐句时长，这些调整可能会减轻声学掩蔽。我们的研究结果为城市化对鸟类通讯的更广泛影响提供了有价值的见解，并强调在保护工作中需要考虑非繁殖期的发声行为。这些发现强调了噪音污染对鸟鸣的全年影响，表明它会影响鸟类生活史的各个方面。然而，目前尚不清楚这些调整是否对生存具有进化意义，因为关键歌声参数的变化可能会影响对手对信号的解读方式。因此，未来的研究应该探索发声可塑性如何影响冬季领地质量、捕食率和个体生存。
