Assessing Vocal Variety in the Winter Wren, a Bird with a Complex Repertoire

Abstract

The song of the Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) varies in a complex fashion in both rime and space. An average of 21 song types occurred in males recorded on at least two mornings; these song types included many variants. Syllables within songs were not arranged randomly, as those that belong to certain syllable types based on acoustic shape were more likely to be used in the introductory portion of the song. Probabilities of transition among syllable types for consecutive syllables were uneven but consistent between years. The repertoire of song types is probably not fixed but varies in its constituent song types both through the breeding season and between years