Note types and coding in parid vocalizations. III: The chick-a-dee call of the Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)

Abstract

Species of the genus Poecile Kaup, 1829 (the chickadees) are well suited to comparative studies of acoustic communication because their songs and calls occur in similar contexts and are acoustically similar. Here we provide careful, reliable descriptions and spectrographic exemplars for seven note types observed in the chick-a-dee calls of the Carolina chickadee, Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834). The note types include A, C, and D notes similar to those found in the chick-a-dee calls of the black-capped chickadee, Poecile atricapillus (L., 1766), a complex of three B-note subtypes (B1, B2, and B3) and a rare note type previously identified as high-tee-chick. In common with black-capped chickadees, the organization of note types in Carolina chickadees follows a stringent syntax; the position of note types within a call is fixed. In contrast with black-capped chickadees, the chick-a-dee call syntax of the Carolina chickadee includes a B-note complex composed of three acoustically distinct subtypes of B notes, and follows a strict syntax: A→(B1→B2→B3)→C→D. Analysis of call variability suggests that the B-note complex (in particular, the most commonly sung note, B2) and the D note may provide reliable cues for species and individual recognition.