Quantifying song behavior in a free-living, light-weight, mobile bird using accelerometers.

ABSTRACT: To acquire a fundamental understanding of animal communication, continuous observations in a natural setting and at an individual level are required. Whereas the use of animal-borne acoustic recorders in vocal studies remains challenging, light-weight accelerometers can potentially register individuals' vocal output when this coincides with body vibrations. We collected one-dimensional accelerometer data using light-weight tags on a free-living, crepuscular bird species, the European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). We developed a classification model to identify four behaviors (rest, sing, fly, and leap) from accelerometer data and, for the purpose of this study, validated the classification of song behavior. Male nightjars produce a distinctive "churring" song while they rest on

SUBMITTER: Eisenring E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8803288 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature