Seabird’s cry: repertoire and vocal expression of contextual valence in the little auk (Alle alle)

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Many seabird species breed in colonies counting up to hundreds of thousands of individuals. Life in such crowded colonies might require special coding–decoding systems to reliably convey information through acoustic cues. This can include, for example, developing complex vocal repertoires and adjusting the properties of their vocal signals to communicate behavioural contexts, and thus regulate social interactions with their conspecifics. We studied vocalisations produced by the little auk (Alle alle)—a highly vocal, colonial seabird—over mating and incubation periods on the SW coast of Svalbard. Using passive acoustic recordings registered in a breeding colony, we extracted eight vocalisation types: single call, clucking, classic call, low trill, short call, short-trill, terror, and handling vocalisation. Calls were grouped by production context (based on the typically associated behaviour), to which a valence (positive vs negative) was later attributed, when possible, according to fitness threats, i.e. predator or human presence (negative) and promoters, i.e. interaction with a partner (positive). The effect of the putative valence on eight selected frequency and duration variables was then investigated. The putative contextual valence significantly affected the acoustic properties of the calls. Calls assigned positive valence had higher fundamental frequency and spectral centre of gravity as well as shorter sound duration than these assigned negative valence. These results indicate that the little auk’s vocal communication system may facilitate expression of complex behavioural contexts, and seems to include vocal plasticity within vocalisation types—however, more data are necessary to better understand this effect and possible interplays of other factors.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer8623
TidsskriftScientific Reports
Vol/bind13
Udgave nummer1
Antal sider10
ISSN2045-2322
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
KWJ: Grant No. 2017/25/B/NZ8/01417 funded by The National Science Centre (NCN), DK: Grant No. 2017/26/D/NZ8/00005 funded by The National Science Centre (NCN), AO: University of Gdańsk Grants No. MN 539-D050-B853-21 and UGFirst 533-0C20-GF12-22, and Erasmus + scholarship.

Funding Information:
Heartfelt thanks to Dariusz Jakubas, Antoine Grissot, Marion Devogel, Martyna Cendrowska, Alexandre Vong, and the members of the 41st, 42nd and 43rd Polish Polar Expeditions for their support in the field. AO would like to thank CIMA Research Foundation for hosting her during the writing of this manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

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