Discrimination of different social companions in spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus): evidence for individual vocal recognition |
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Authors: | Ralf Wanker Jasmin Apcin Bert Jennerjahn Birte Waibel |
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Institution: | Arbeitsbereich Ethologie, Zoologisches Institut und Zoologisches Museum, Universit?t Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany e-mail: wanker@zoologie.uni-hamburg.de, Tel.: +49-40-41233673, Fax: +49-40-41233937, DE
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Abstract: | Individual recognition is generally assumed to be a prerequisite for establishing and maintaining a complex social system.
Indeed, there is good evidence that highly social species have complex systems of vocal communication with individual recognition
by acoustic cues. In this study, we provide experimental evidence that vocal class and individual recognition is present in
a non-passerine bird, the spectacled parrotlet (Forpus conspicillatus). Spectacled parrotlets live in a complex system of social relationships. Soon after fledging, the young establish close
sibling relationships which are important for successful socialization, pairing and reproduction. In a series of playback
experiments we tested if spectacled parrotlets use contact calls for vocal recognition. The results showed that spectacled
parrotlets discriminate between the contact calls of different social categories. Adult birds preferred to respond to the
contact calls of their mates. Subadult individuals recognized the contact calls of their siblings. During the period of pair
bond formation, the affiliative contacts to the siblings decrease, but the parrotlets continue to respond to the calls of
their siblings. This is the first evidence that vocal sibling recognition might outlast the period of strong sibling interaction
and extends into the period of pair bond formation. In cases of mate loss or divorce, the acoustic contact to their siblings
might facilitate the re-establishment of close sibling relationships.
Received: 29 October 1997 / Accepted after revision: 5 April 1998 |
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Keywords: | Individual recognition Spectacled parrotlets Call discrimination Pair mates Siblings |
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