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The calls and associated behavior of breeding willow ptarmigan in Canada

1995; Wilson Ornithological Society; Volume: 107; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

1938-5447

Kathy Martin, Andrew G. Horn, Susan J. Hannon,

Linguistic Variation and Morphology

-We describe the physical structure, use, and possible functions of 11 calls of breeding Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), most of which were given by both sexes. Both sexes had visually and acoustically conspicuous territorial calls (flight song, rattle, kohwa, and aroo (males only). Koks, ko-ko-ko, and krrow were given by both sexes as low intensity threat, territorial, or sexual situations, or to maintain contact with the mate or offspring. Purr and moan were given usually by females to communicate with chicks, and hiss and scream calls by both sexes in intense defence of offspring or mates. The sex of the caller was usually easily recognizable, as males had strong and rapid amplitude modulations in their calls, which females lacked. The most complex calls were flight songs which consisted of several calls in sequence. Unlike other nonpasserines, Willow Ptarmigan do not appear to have a repertoire of calls that are graded variants of one another. Calls of North American populations of Willow Ptarmigan appear similar to those of European populations. Received 2 June 1994, 5 Mar. 1995. The social systems of grouse (Phasianidae: Tetraoninae) have been well studied (Hjorth 1970, 1976, Wiley 1974, Wittenberger 1978, Johnsgard 1983), but their vocal repertoires are poorly described, with few complete vocal ethograms that include sonograms for both sexes, but see Stirling and Bendell (1970). Ptarmigan are particularly interesting because they are one of the few monogamous members of the subfamily Tetraoninae. Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) males provide parental care, and after the eggs hatch, they can raise young on their own (Wittenberger 1978, Martin and Cooke 1987). Thus, members of Willow Ptarmigan pairs and broods are in frequent vocal contact during the breeding season. Qualitative descriptions of the calls of Red Grouse (L. 1. scoticus) in Scotland have been reported by Watson and Jenkins (1964). Cramp and Simmons (1980) provided sonograms for several of these calls. In Norway, several territorial and mating calls of free-living birds of the continental European subspecies (L. 1. lagopus) are described (Pedersen et al. 1983, Johnsen et al. 1991), and Wike and Steen (1987) described four parental calls, three with accompanying sonograms of three captive brood hens. The calls of North American Willow Ptarmigan have not been described. In this paper we describe the calls of free-living breeding birds in northern Canada and provide details on the context of their use. ' Canadian Wildlife Service, 5421 Robertson Rd., R.R. #1, Delta, British Columbia, Canada, V4K 3N2, and Dept. of Forest Sciences, Univ. of British Columbia, 2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z4. 2 Biology Dept., Dalhousie Univ., Halifax, Nova Scotia. Canada, B3H 4J1. 3 Dept. of Zoology, Univ. ot Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2E9.