Hastings Natural History Reservation

18 Jul, 02 AM - 31 Jul, 06 AM

This project involves an investigation of inter-species and inter-population responses to song playback in the avian genus Pipilo. In previous work at Hastings, I banded individuals and studied territiorial responses of male California Towhees (Pipilo crissalis) and Spotted Towhees (Pipilo maculatus)to tape-recorded songs from Abert's, Canyon, White-throated, and Green-tailed Towhees. I also studied responses of Spotted Towhees to songs recorded from Spotted Towhees in Colorado (who have more introductory notes and generally slower trill rates) and Eastern Towhees (who typically have a 3- rather than 2- or 1-syllable song). On this visit, I plan to complete a playback study in which local Spotted Towhees will be tested with song from Colorado Spotted Towhees with the introductory notes removed, and from California Spotted Towhees with Colorado introductory notes added. This study will clarify some of the perceptual determinants of song-based species identity in Spotted Towhees.

Visit #5570 @Hastings Natural History Reservation

Approved

Under Project # 4375 | Research

Male Territorial Response to Song Playback in the Avian Genus Pipilo

faculty - University of Colorado

Reservation Members(s)

Peter Kaplan Jul 18 - 31, 2004 (14 days)

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