Individual and Geographic Variation in Non-Harmonic Phases of Male Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) Song.

ABSTRACT: Individually distinct acoustic signals, produced mainly as tonal and harmonic sounds, have been recorded in many species; however, non-tonal 'noisy' signals have received little attention or have not been studied in detail. The capercaillies (Tetrao urogallus) produce complex courtship songs composed of non-tonal noisy signals in four discrete phases. We analyzed recordings from 24 captive male capercaillies in breeding centres in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany, and songs from wild males in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Estonia to test whether a non-harmonic song can encode individual-specific information. We also analyzed the intra-population variation of the male song from three separate areas: Carpathian (Polish and Czech Beskid), Sumava, and Boreal (boreal range of speci

SUBMITTER: Policht R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9952776 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature