Song dialects as diagnostic characters — acoustic differentiation of the Canary Island Goldcrest subspecies Regulus regulus teneriffae Seebohm 1883 and R. r. ellenthalerae Päckert et al. 2006 (Aves: Passeriformes: Regulidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 1325 (1) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTIN PÄCKERT

Acoustic differentiation among Goldcrests (Regulus regulus) from the Canary Islands was investigated by sonagraphic analysis with respect to the recently discovered genetic subdivision of the Canarian populations into a clade from Tenerife and La Gomera (nominate ssp. teneriffae) and a second clade from La Palma and El Hierro (recently described as ssp. ellenthalerae). One common dialect, song type A, was found on all four islands inhabited by Goldcrests and is also present on São Miguel, Azores (ssp. azoricus). This one is composed of a rapid trill introduction followed by an ascending part and a terminal flourish. Further Canarian song types are variations of this dialect, differing in trill elements and composition of the second ascending phrase. A remarkably different dialect was exclusively found in the Anaga Mountains on Tenerife. The rhythmic song pattern of alternating high- and lower-pitched elements shows strong resemblance to the song of European nominate regulus and to other island dialects from the Azores. Local variations of song type A were found on El Hierro and La Palma. Three acoustic clusters can be distinguished by discriminant analysis, one comprising all songs of ssp. ellenthalerae from La Palma and El Hierro and two further teneriffae clusters encompassing songs from La Gomera on the one hand and those from Tenerife on the other. The findings are discussed with respect to the potential evolutionary causes of the different song repertoires on the Canaries, the Azores and the European continent and to the use of acoustic markers for taxonomic diagnosis.

2012 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Vicente ◽  
Maria Gómez López

AbstractThis article reports the geographical and host distribution of the flea Stenoponia tripectinata on the Canary Islands. S. tripectinata is widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa as a parasite of Muridae rodents. To date, Gran Canaria is the only island of the archipelago where S. tripectinata had been found. In this report, S. tripectinata has appeared parasitizing 116 specimens of Mus musculus out of a total of 660, and only 2 Rattus rattus of 215 captured. All the trapped Muridae hosts found to be parasitized by S. tripectinata came from humid biotopes. The results showed that S. tripectinata is present on all the western Canary Islands and on one of the eastern islands, Gran Canaria, the only island already reported. The detection of S. tripectinata on El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera and Tenerife represents the first records of this flea species on those Canary Islands.


The Auk ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 936-942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Peters ◽  
William A. Searcy ◽  
Michael D. Beecher ◽  
Stephen Nowicki

Abstract We asked whether geographic variation exists in the complexity of song repertoires in Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) by quantitatively comparing four measures of repertoire organization across four geographically distant populations: (1) repertoire size (the number of distinct song types), (2) the number of “minimal units of production” per repertoire, (3) mean similarity among variants of the same song type (“within-type” similarity), and (4) mean similarity among song types in a repertoire (“between-type” similarity). We found significant geographic differences among populations in three of these four measures, with mean similarity among song types being the exception. In general, relatively sedentary populations in North Carolina and Washington were more similar to each other than to migratory populations in Pennsylvania and Maine. Contrary to our expectation based on prior interspecific analyses of variation in repertoire complexity, the relatively sedentary populations in our sample had more complex repertoires than did the more migratory populations. The origin and functional significance of population differences in repertoire complexity in this species remain uncertain.


The Auk ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim C. Derrickson

Abstract The singing behavior of 4 male Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) was studied during 1980 and 1981. Over 10,000 song bouts (repetition of a particular song type) were analyzed spectrographically. Between 102 and 412 distinct song types were identified for each male in a given year. Many of these song types (25.8-57.4%) occurred only once in this sample of singing behavior. Repertoire size was estimated by fitting an exponential curve to a cumulative plot of distinct song types as a function of consecutive bouts sampled. The resulting asymptote was the estimate of repertoire size. Sequences of at least 50 consecutive bouts were used in estimating repertoire size. The technique of using consecutive bouts was required because of the high proportion of rare song types. Several estimates were made for each male and resulted in mean repertoire size estimates of 100-200 song types for the four males. Long sequences (125-150 bouts) of consecutive bouts are preferred to estimate repertoire size accurately. In addition, the social situation in which the singing behavior occurred can alter significantly the estimate of repertoire size. For example, estimates produced from singing during patrolling or countersinging were smaller than estimates generated from singing while associating with a female. The repertoire size estimate increased between 1980 and 1981 for 3 of 4 males. The one male not showing an increase spent much time patrolling and interacting with neighboring males before dying early in 1981. These results are consistent with the impression that repertoire size increases with age.


Behaviour ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 87 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 256-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.M. Dawson ◽  
P.F. Jenkins

AbstractThe aim of this investigation was to determine to what extent song repertoires and singing behaviour of chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) evolved as a means by which resident birds deceive intruders into overestimating the density of residents, making the area appear less suitable for settlement. (1) The chaffinches studied did not show a significant tendency to change song posts synchronously any more than would be expected by chance. (2) Approximately 90% of song type/song post changes were asynchronous. (3) Half of the birds did not repeat their song types with equal frequency, nor did they distribute their singing effort evenly over all the song posts. (4) The degree of similarity between song types in the same repertoire and the degree of similarity between song types from different individuals were not found to be significantly different. (5) No correlation between song rate and repertoire size was found, but it was concluded that seasonal biases strongly restricted this facet of the investigation. On the basis of these findings it is concluded that the evolution of repertoires and singing behaviour in chaffinches seems unlikely to have occurred in conformity with the Beau Geste hypothesis.


1988 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan H. Stock

Pseudoniphargus was known from inland stygohabitats in the Iberian peninsula, the Azores, Madeira, N.W. Africa, and Bermuda, but not from the Canary Islands. Systematic sampling in six of the seven larger islands of the latter archipelago has revealed the presence of the genus in Tenerife (4 species), La Palma (2 species), La Gomera (1 species), and El Hierro (1 species). No Pseudoniphargus has been found in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura; Gran Canaria has not been sampled systematically.


Complutum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-324
Author(s):  
Diria Morales Casañas ◽  
Elena María Pérez González
Keyword(s):  
La Palma ◽  

En la actualidad, en las Islas Canarias se encuentran declarados 83 Bienes de Interés Cultural (BIC) con categoría de Zona Arqueológica (ZA). De ellos, 36 se encuentran en la isla de Gran Canaria, seguida por Tenerife con 27, Fuerteventura y La Palma con 5 zonas, el Hierro con 3, la Gomera con 2 y finalmente, Lanzarote con sólo una zona arqueológica. En este trabajo se reflejan algunas de las deficiencias en la gestión de este tipo de bienes, ocasionadas por el propio procedimiento de declaración, y que impiden una clara y fluida gestión del patrimonio arqueológico cuyo objetivo debería ser, a tenor de las más actuales tendencias en la gestión patrimonial, integrar, cohesionar y desarrollar social y económicamente los territorios. Para ello, se ha centrado el estudio en el análisis de la organización legal y administrativa en la gestión del patrimonio arqueológico, la política de autorizaciones de las intervenciones arqueológicas, la de protección reflejada en los BIC, la delimitación de áreas de protección y su conversión en parque arqueológico, lo que nos han ayudado a profundizar y mostrar el estado actual de los bienes arqueológicos canarios y avanzar en la evaluación y diagnóstico de la gestión del patrimonio arqueológico.


1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 1867-1874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Shackleton ◽  
Laurene Ratcliffe ◽  
Andrew G. Horn ◽  
Christopher T. Naugler

The songs of 34 male Harris' sparrows were recorded at Churchill, Manitoba. The songs are composed of one to three whistled notes, all at the same frequency. Individuals sing from one to three song types, each at a discrete frequency. Males are very accurate at returning to the same frequency, both within a bout and between days. Individuals seem to structure their repertoire on the basis of the frequency ratio between types, rather than on the absolute frequency of each type. Males responded to playback of a 3-kHz song with the song in their repertoire that was closest to it in frequency. We suggest that the frequency ratio between song types may be species specific, whereas the absolute frequency of song types may facilitate individual recognition. This species has been previously described as having only a single song type. Our study and other recent work suggest that there is no sharp distinction in the wild between bird species with single and multisong repertoires.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document