Baeolophus bicolor
Phonetic descriptions of song:
here-here-here
peter-peter-peter
jeer jeer
cheeva, cheeva, cheeva…
fer-da, fer-da, fer-da…
What is known about titmouse song?
Repertoires:
•12-20 song types (Gaddis 1983a, Schroeder and Wiley 1983a, Schroeder and Wiley 1983b, Duguay and Ritchison 1998), at least 9 have different meaning (Gaddis 1983a)
• Repeats one many times and then switches (Kroodsma 2005)
Neighbors:
•Neighbors reply with identical songs, and switching (matched countersinging) (Kroodsma 2005)
•Share most songs with neighbors (Duguay and Ritchison 1998), about 4 songs with one neighbor (Kroodsma 2005)
•Dialects: songs vary markedly from one community to next (Kroodsma 2005)
•Winter flocks usually composed of parents and offspring (Brackbill 1970b).
Females:
Occasionally sing (Schoeder and Wiley 1983a)
How and when is song acquired?
•Learn the local song themes in their first summer
(Schoeder and Wiley 1983b)
• Tutored in post-fledgling period (Duguay and Titchinson 1998)
• Song total versatility highest during the post-fledging period
(Duguay and Titchinson 1998)
•Themes of parents and neighbors are recognizable within 4 weeks after fledging (Schoeder and Wiley 1983b)
How best to facilitate learning?
• Release as soon as possible
• Must be exposed to song soon after fledging
• House outdoors together where they will be released
• Likely don’t learn from tapes [xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx how did i come to this conclusion? xxxxxxxxxxx]
They are cavity nesters. Fortunately we don’t usually get nestlings. It is particularly important to house titmice outdoors where they will be released. They do not learn from tapes Kroodsma. They learned from each other. Each group in different room had different dialect.
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References:
Brackbill, H. (1970b). Tufted Titmouse Breeding Behavior. Auk 87 (3):522-536.
Duguay, J. P. and G. Ritchison. (1998). A contextual analysis of singing behavior in male Tufted Titmice. Journal of Field Ornithology 69 (1):85-94.
Gaddis, P. (1983a). Differential usage of song types by Plain, Bridled, and Tufted Titmice. Ornis Scandinavica 14:16-23.
Kroodsma, Donald. (2005) The Singing Life of Birds: 165-176.
Schroeder, D. J. and R. H. Wiley. (1983a). Communication with repertoires of song themes in Tufted Titmice. Animal Behaviour 31:1128-1138.
Schroeder, D. J. and R. H. Wiley. (1983b). Communication with shared song themes in Tufted Titmice. Auk 100 (2):414-424.