Acoustic communication in the Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla: potential cues for sexual and individual signatures in long calls

• Published in: Polar Biology
• Main Authors: Aubin, Thierry, Mathevon, Nicolas, Staszewski, Vincent, Boulinier, T.
• Other Authors: Neurobiologie de l'apprentissage, de la mémoire et de la communication (NAMC), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ecologie et Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle (ENES), Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro Montpellier, Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Université de Montpellier (UM), Ecologie comportementale (EC), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques (UM2)-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Université de Rennes (UR)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2007
• Subjects: [SDV.OT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Other [q-bio.OT]; Barents Sea; Hornøya; Polar Biology; rissa tridactyla
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00160160; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0262-6

International audience Sex and individual recognition systems vary among species and can have various functions in different contexts. In order to determine the basis of identification by voice in the Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), the greeting calls of 32 individuals (18 males and 14 females) were recorded in May–June 2004 on the Kittiwake colony of Hornøya island (Barents sea) and analysed. On the basis of coefficient of variation calculations and discriminant analyses, we show (1) that calls are sexually dimorphic and that the dimorphism is mainly based on the value of the fundamental frequency, and (2) that calls are individually distinct, individuality being due to a complex of temporal and frequency parameters located in different parts of the signal. This coding strategy is discussed in the context of the colonial breeding habitat of the species.