Naslov
Moth and towering song flight serve different function in the black-headed bunting

Autori
Barišić, Sanja ; Ćiković, Davor ; Tutiš, Vesna ; Kralj, Jelena ; Hoi, Herbert

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Programme and Abstracts. 12th European Ornithologists’ Union Congress, Cluj-Napoca, Romania / Matthysen, Erik ; Pap, Péter L. ; Bóné, Gábor B. - Cluj - Napoca : European Ornithologists’ Union, 2019

Skup
12th European Ornithologist's Union Congress

Mjesto i datum
Cluj-Napoca, Rumunjska, 26.08.2019. - 30.08.2019

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Black-headed Bunting ; Flight song ; Moth flight

Sažetak
Even though the black-headed bunting Emberiza melanocephala is a common species in South-Eastern Europe, the knowledge about its biology is mostly lacking. We studied male black-headed bunting song flightdisplay from 2011 to 2016 in Mediterranean Croatia (43◦49’N 15◦43’E). Throughout the breeding season, male’s displays behaviour was noted during 20-minutes standardized observation protocols (N = 323). Songs were mostly delivered from exposed perches, and occasionally during song flights. Two types of song flights were recorded: Moth –standard song produced during a horizontal flight, and towering – specifically structured song produced during ascending/descending flight. Males arrived at the breeding grounds before females and immediately started to sing suggesting that standard song is directed towards other males. Playback experiments with conspecific song triggered a focal male to start singing and to approach the loudspeaker with moth song flight, confirming the role of standard song in territory defence and indicating the role of moth flight as a threat display. The towering didn’t commence before female arrival and it was typically performed in the presence of a receptive female, implying courtship as the main function. The towering song was less stereotyped than the standard song and is presumably physically demanding as it necessitates for a male to steeply ascend into the air. A high positive correlation between the number of towering and the number receptive females (i.e. initiated nests) confirmed its role in courtship. We provide, to our knowledge, the first full account of towering song flightof males black-headed bunting.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biologija

POVEZANOST RADA