Individual recognition of neighbors by song in a suboscine bird, the alder flycatcher Empidonax alnorum

Abstract

The ability of territorial males to discriminate between songs of their neighbors and songs of strangers has been demonstrated in 27 species of songbirds. Such experiments test only the ability of a subject to discriminate between two classes of stimuli, familiar (neighbors) and unfamiliar (strangers) songs. Individual recognition of neighbors is a finer, more complex type of discrimination. The ability of territorial males to recognize individual neighbors by song has been documented in 12 species of oscine passerines (Passeriformes, Passeri), but has never been demonstrated in suboscine passerines (Tyranni). We investigated recognition of songs of individual neighbors in a suboscine, the alder flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum). We performed a series of song playback experiments and recorded responses of territorial males to songs of neighbors and songs of strangers broadcast from two locations, the neighbor boundary and an opposite boundary. Subjects responded more aggressively to songs of a neighbor when played from the opposite boundary than when played from the neighbor boundary. They responded with equal aggression to songs of strangers regardless of location of playback. The difference in response to neighbor songs between speaker locations and the lack of a difference in response to stranger songs indicate that territorial males associate a particular song with a particular location (territory), and thus recognize individual neighbors.