Marck Aya, Kolodny Oren, Vortman Yoni, Ben-Shlomo Rachel, Lavner Yizhar
The Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem Israel.
Hula Research Center, Department of Animal Sciences Tel-Hai College Upper Galilee Israel.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Sep 10;15(9):e72020. doi: 10.1002/ece3.72020. eCollection 2025 Sep.
Vocal communication plays a critical role in understanding animal behavior, evolution, and cognition. We developed an automated system combining audio signal processing and machine learning (supervised and unsupervised) to characterize the vocal repertoire of the White Spectacled Bulbul (), a widespread passerine in Israel known for its complex year-round vocal activity. Analyzing hundreds of field recordings using passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), our system identified thousands of calls, revealing a hierarchically structured vocal repertoire composed of distinct complex vocalizations () and base units (). Our results show that different populations possess unique motif repertoires, primarily consisting of population-specific motifs built from syllables that are similar across genetically distinct populations. This study enhances our understanding of this understudied species and highlights the White Spectacled Bulbul's potential as a model organism for investigating vocal communication and social learning in animals.
声音交流在理解动物行为、进化和认知方面起着关键作用。我们开发了一个结合音频信号处理和机器学习（有监督和无监督）的自动化系统，以描述白眶鹎（一种在以色列广泛分布的雀形目鸟类，以其全年复杂的发声活动而闻名）的发声库。通过使用被动声学监测（PAM）分析数百份野外录音，我们的系统识别出了数千个叫声，揭示了一个由不同的复杂发声和基本单元组成的层次结构发声库。我们的结果表明，不同种群拥有独特的主题库，主要由特定种群的主题组成，这些主题由在基因上不同的种群中相似的音节构建而成。这项研究增进了我们对这个研究较少的物种的理解，并突出了白眶鹎作为研究动物声音交流和社会学习的模式生物的潜力。
