Neighbour–stranger discrimination in an African wood dove inhabiting equatorial rainforest

Abstract

We investigated within- and between-individual song variation and song-based neighbour-stranger discrimination in a non-learning bird species, the blue-headed wood-dove (Turtur brehmeri), which inhabits lowland rainforests of West and Central Africa. We found that songs of this species are individually specific and have a high potential for use in individual recognition based on the time–frequency pattern of note distribution within song phrases. To test whether these differences affect behaviour, we conducted playback experiments with 19 territorial males. Each male was tested twice, once with the songs of a familiar neighbour and once with the songs of an unfamiliar stranger. We observed that males responded more aggressively to playback of a stranger’s songs: they quickly approached close to the speaker and spent more time near it. However, no significant differences between treatments were observed in the vocal responses. In addition, we explored whether responses differed based on the song frequency of the focal male and/or that of the simulated intruder (i.e., playback), as this song parameter is inversely related to body size and could potentially affect males’ decisions to respond to other birds. Song frequency parameters (of either the focal male or the simulated intruder) had no effect on the approaching response during playback. However, we found that the pattern of response after playback was significantly affected by the song frequency of the focal male: males with lower-frequency songs stayed closer to the simulated intruder for a longer period of time without singing, while males with higher-frequency songs returned more quickly to their initial song posts and resumed singing. Together, these results depict a consistently strong response to strangers during and after playback that is dependent on a male’s self-assessment rather than assessment of a rival’s strength based on his song frequency. This work provides the first experimental evidence that doves (Columbidae) can use songs for neighbour-stranger discrimination and respond according to a “dear enemy” scheme that keeps the cost of territory defence at a reasonable level.