High-frequency vocalizations in Andean hummingbirds

Abstract:

Hummingbirds possess a number of unique features. A recent report in Current Biology [1] showed that the Black Jacobin (Florisuga fusca), a Brazilian hummingbird in the Topazes clade, produces high-frequency vocalizations outside the known hearing range of birds. Here, we report that four hummingbird species in the Andean clade [2,3] also exhibit high-frequency vocalizations: the Ecuadorian Hillstar (Oreotrochilus chimborazo), with the highest fundamental frequency (mean F0 = 13.4 kHz), the Buff-tailed Coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens), Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) and Violet-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocercus coelestis). The presence of high-frequency vocalizations in hummingbirds belonging to different lineages poses the question of whether high-frequency vocalizations in this group of birds have been, so far, overlooked. These Andean species are closely related but live in two different habitats. Our characterization of ambient noise in each habitat suggests that the hummingbirds are exposed to different acoustic challenges, and that the frequency content of the vocalizations of the cloud-forest species is adapted accordingly. The function of these signals and the selection pressures driving their evolution remain unknown. Duque et al. report four Andean hummingbird species that produce high-frequency vocalizations above the known hearing range of birds; one with the highest known fundamental frequency in a bird.

Año de publicación:

2018

Keywords:

Fuente:

scopus