Hearing sensitivity in the Greater Prairie Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido)

Abstract

As their scientific name implies, Greater Prairie Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) are well known for their vocalizations, particularly those produced by males during courtship. In this report, the auditory sensitivity of a small cohort of Greater Prairie Chickens inhabiting the grasslands of southeastern Nebraska is presented as part of an effort to assess the capacity of wind turbine farm generated noise to mask male courtship vocalizations. Birds were captured from breeding grounds (leks) between March and June of 2014 and sensitivity to tone-burst stimuli was assessed using the auditory brainstem response. While response waveforms were typical of responses observed in other avian species, as was the bandwidth of audibility curves, preliminary data suggest the possibility that Greater Prairie Chickens may be unusually sensitive to low frequency tone-bursts in the vicinity of the dominant spectral component of the “booming” call, a prominent, intense vocalization that males produce during courtship. As part of the larger study that is designed to evaluate the potential impact of wind turbine farm operation on reproductive success, demography and overall survival rates, the potential masking influence of noise produced by turbine operations at wind farms will be discussed in relation to sensitivity findings.