The vocal repertoire of the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus): structure and function of calls.

ABSTRACT: The African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is a highly social and vocal seabird. However, currently available descriptions of the vocal repertoire of African Penguin are mostly limited to basic descriptions of calls. Here we provide, for the first time, a detailed description of the vocal behaviour of this species by collecting audio and video recordings from a large captive colony. We combine visual examinations of spectrograms with spectral and temporal acoustic analyses to determine vocal categories. Moreover, we used a principal component analysis, followed by signal classification with a discriminant function analysis, for statistical validation of the vocalisation types. In addition, we identified the behavioural contexts in which calls were uttered. The results show that four basic v

SUBMITTER: Favaro L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4116197 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature