Duet Songs Research Articles

Strange Tunes—Acoustic Variation and Character Displacement in a Tarsier Hybrid Zone

Natural hybridization provides valuable insights into evolutionary processes, such as speciation and the forces driving or hindering it. Sulawesi tarsiers Tarsius dentatus and T. lariang hybridize within a limited area, suggesting selection against hybrids. Their species- and sex-specific duet songs might serve as a premating barrier in sympatry, especially if differences are strengthened by character displacement. Individuals of mixed origin might face disadvantages if they inherit intermediate song traits. To shed light on the processes shaping this hybrid zone, we analysed 55 duet songs from within and outside the zone. For females and males, we identified temporal and frequency-related parameters that differ between species. We inspected hybrid songs for intermediate characteristics and analysed purebred songs for character displacement in sympatry. Female hybrid songs (N = 2) were intermediate in four to five of six parameters; interpretation of male hybrid songs (N = 2) was inconclusive, because only two parameters were reliably quantifiable. There was no character displacement in female songs in sympatry (N = 11) compared with monospecific areas (N = 17). In male songs, interspecific differences in note rate were significantly larger within the hybrid zone (N = 8) compared with outside (N = 13). Intermediate song traits indicate inheritance and may disadvantage hybrids during mate choice. Character displacement in male songs is consistent with female mate choice, because females should opt for unmistakable signals to avoid costly hybridization. Our findings thus suggest that duet songs of T. lariang and T. dentatus play an important role in limiting this hybrid zone.

Hylobates moloch(Primates: Hylobatidae)

AbstractHylobates moloch (Audebert, 1797), the Javan or silvery gibbon, is a pair-living small ape which is exclusively found in the western and central regions of the Indonesian island of Java. It represents the southernmost occurring species of the genus Hylobates and inhabits the canopy of tropical rainforests. It is foremost characterized by its long silvery-gray fur in combination with a lack of duet songs in mated pairs. Hylobates moloch is threatened by habitat loss as well as the illegal wildlife trade and is listed as “Endangered” (EN) by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Kajian Semiotika dalam isi Kandungan Arti dan Makna Sebuah Lagu Satru ciptaan Denny caknan

The purpose of writing this paper is to fulfill writing lectures and find out what language it is, various kinds of languages that can be used in song lyrics, several languages that will be pleasant to hear and make a beautiful rhythm. And can describe a Javanese song entitled Satru created by Denny Caknan. As a creator, Denny is very experienced and has a high imagination in creating a song that can be popular among the people and the song is a duet song with Happy Asmara who is none other than his former lover. The song is a sad song that describes a person who is jealous of his partner's behavior. From this story, it deserves to be popular, especially among teenagers who are falling in love and the pain of a broken heart. The method used to reveal the meaning and content in this song is descriptive qualitative. Research data in the form of words, sentences, and quotes in the song. The study used is Semiotics which focuses on the meaning in a song. The results of this study are containing various meanings in geguritan which have several meanings but make this song as its own characteristic in it.

The multifaceted vocal duets of white‐browed sparrow weavers are based on complex duetting rules

In some bird species, mated pairs sing duet songs for pair bond maintenance and joint territory defense. Duet partners often follow specific duetting rules, such as answering rules and duet codes, to construct their duet songs. Previous studies mainly concentrated on species that repeat particular phrase pairings during duetting. Our study aims to add to the comparative aspect of duetting research by investigating duet structure in songs of white‐browed sparrow weavers Plocepasser mahali, a songbird species that does not repeat the same type of vocalization but switches between different types of vocal elements within one duet song. We used lightweight radio‐telemetric microphone transmitters to record the vocal activity in both individuals of duetting pairs simultaneously. This technique enabled us not only to investigate duetting behavior in naturally behaving animals, but also to assign each vocalization to the respective individual while maintaining the precise temporal relationship between the vocalizations of both partners. Our data reveal that although white‐browed sparrow weavers share a large part of their sex‐specific vocal repertoires with same‐sex birds of other pairs, duetting partners adhere to pair‐specific answering rules to generate their highly complex duet songs. Moreover, partners can combine answering rules into consistent duet trains. Duet trains generally represent only the core of the duet songs, while at the beginning and the end of duet songs, partners arrange their vocalization types more flexibly. In addition to completely pair‐specific duet trains, duet trains of white‐browed sparrow weaver pairs can include subsequences that are shared between different pairs. The sharing pattern we find in this species suggests that in combination to pair‐specific duetting rules, mated pairs use duetting rules that have been acquired prior to pair formation.

Structure and functions of Yellow-breasted Boubou (Laniarius atroflavus) solos and duets.

BackgroundBirds have extremely well-developed acoustic communication and have become popular in bioacoustics research. The majority of studies on bird song have been conducted in the temperate zones where usually males of birds sing to attract females and defend territories. In over 360 bird species mostly inhabiting the tropics both males and females sing together in duets. Avian duets are usually formed when a male and female coordinate their songs. We focused on a species with relatively weakly coordinated duets, with male solo as the prevailing vocalisation type.MethodsInstead of analysing a set of recordings spread over a long time, we analysed whole day microphone-array recordings of the Yellow-breasted Boubou (Laniarius atroflavus), a species endemic to West African montane rainforests. We described the structure of the solo and duet vocalisations and temporal characteristics of daily activity based on 5,934 vocal bouts of 18 focal pairs and their neighbours.ResultsBirds had small, sex specific repertoires. All males shared three types of loud whistles functioning as song type repertoires in both solos and duets. Females vocalised with five types of harsh, atonal notes with a more variable and usually lower amplitude. Three of them were produced both as solos and in duets, while two seem to function as alarm and excitement calls given almost exclusively as a solo. Solos were the most common vocalisation mode (75.4%), with males being more vocally active than females. Duets accounted for 24.6% of all vocalisations and in most cases were initiated by males (81%). The majority of duets were simple (85.1%) consisting of a single male and female song type, but altogether 38 unique duet combinations were described. Males usually initiated singing at dawn and for this used one particular song type more often than expected by chance. Male solo and duet activities peaked around dawn, while female solos were produced evenly throughout the day.DiscussionYellow-breasted Boubou is a duetting species in which males are much more vocal than females and duetting is not a dominating type of vocal activity. Duet structure, context and timing of daily production support the joint resource defence hypothesis and mate guarding/prevention hypotheses, however maintaining pair contact also seems to be important. This study provides for the first time the basic quantitative data describing calls, solos and duet songs in the Yellow-breasted Boubou.

Defending as a unit: sex- and context-specific territorial defence in a duetting bird

Behaviours such as territorial defence represent functionally integrated traits that underlie multiple behavioural variables such as physical and acoustic responses. Characterizing the multivariate structure of such traits is fundamental to understand their evolution. In bird species that form stable pair bonds and are territorial year-round, both sexes are expected to defend their territory; however, the role that each sex plays in defending their shared territory remains largely unknown. Evidence for the sex-roles during territorial defence is mixed and sex- and context-specific characterizations of territorial defence embracing the multivariate nature of the trait are currently lacking. Here, we investigated sex- and context-specific variation in a hypothesised latent variable called ‘territorial defence’ and tested whether duets were part of territorial defence in a wild population of rufous hornero (Furnarius rufus). To do so, we combined a simulated territorial intrusion approach during nest building and provisioning contexts with a structural equation modelling approach. Our results showed that, in males and females, the six measured behavioural variables were linked by a single latent trait, territorial defence, in both contexts. Flights over the decoy and duet songs were equally good proxies of territorial defence. Although males were defending more the territory than females, pair members showed a positive correlation in their behaviour. The structural equation modelling framework enabled us to capture a complex correlation pattern among behavioural variables, expanding upon a classic body of research on territorial defence. Thus, the combination of classical behavioural approaches with sophisticated statistical analyses brings new exciting possibilities to the field of behavioural ecology. Territorial defence is a key behaviour in territorial species as it plays a major role in an individual’s reproductive success and survival. Additionally, territorial defence has been proposed as one possible evolutionary driver of duetting behaviour, one of the most fascinating vocal behaviours in birds. As behaviours are evolutionary characters, they must be studied in a multivariate framework. In this study, we focused on characterizing territorial defence during a simulated territorial intrusion in an integrative manner using a structural equation modelling framework. We did so in male and female rufous horneros (Aves: Furnaridae) across two breeding contexts, while simultaneously testing theoretical predictions about the role of duetting behaviour as key part of territorial defence. Overall, our study provides for the first time a sex- and context-comparison of the multivariate, latent variable ‘territorial defence’ in duetting birds, while highlighting the potential of combining field behavioural approaches with structural equation modelling.

White-handed gibbons discriminate context-specific song compositions

White-handed gibbons produce loud and acoustically complex songs when interacting with their neighbours or when encountering predators. In both contexts, songs are assembled from a small number of units although their composition differs in context-specific ways. Here, we investigated whether wild gibbons could infer the ‘meaning’ when hearing exemplars recorded in both contexts (i.e. ‘duet songs’ vs. ‘predator songs’). We carried out a playback experiment by which we simulated the presence of a neighbouring group producing either its duet or a predator song in order to compare subjects’ vocal and locomotor responses. When hearing a recording of a duet song, subjects reliably responded with their own duet song, which sometimes elicited further duet songs in adjacent groups. When hearing a recording of a predator song, however, subjects typically remained silent, apart from one of six groups which replied with its own predator song. Moreover, in two of six trials, playbacks of predator songs elicited predator song replies in non-adjacent groups. Finally, all groups showed strong anti-predator behaviour to predator songs but never to duet songs. We concluded that white-handed gibbons discriminated between the two song types and were able to infer meaning from them. We discuss the implications of these findings in light of the current debate on the evolutionary origins of syntax.

Duet singing in plain-tailed wrens

A Quick guide to plain-tailed wrens, sonbirds of the Andes which sing duet songs that can be heard at distances of over 200 metres.

Display behaviour, social organization and vocal repertoire of Blue‐backed Manakin Chiroxiphia pareola napensis in northwest Amazonia

Members of the avian family Pipridae (manakins) have served as a model system for studies aimed at understanding cooperation among individuals, traits involved in sexual selection and the evolution of female preferences. These studies rely on a detailed natural history baseline, yet multiple manakin taxa remain unstudied, precluding comparative analyses and assessment of geographical variation. The Blue‐backed Manakin Chiroxiphia pareola is a widely distributed species with four recognized subspecies; however, most published information on display behaviour, social organization and vocalizations are derived from an island population of one subspecies, Chiroxiphia pareola atlantica. To describe the social organization and patterns of activity of the subspecies C. p. napensis, we studied a population in eastern Ecuador and collected data from seven display areas or leks within the Tiputini Biodiversity Station. We used focal observations, camera traps and automatic song recorders to collect information for the field seasons from January to March 2013 and video cameras from February to March 2014. Males were active most of the day with a peak in activity at noon. Display areas were occupied by one to five males, ranging from > 2 to > 18 years old. The vocal repertoire included duet song displays and a variety of calls. We provide sonograms for all six observed vocalizations, including two previously unrecorded vocalizations for the species, and comment on the possible behavioural context of each vocalization. We describe five distinct display elements and the dance display behaviour, and highlight differences relative to other species of the genus. The first part of the dance display involved cooperative dancing, whereas the second part was a solo display, usually performed by alpha males. Our work reveals some differences between C. p. napensis and C. p. atlantica, such as a possible aggressive interaction between males of different ages and hierarchical status that has not been reported before and the apparent absence of mechanical wing sounds in C. p. napensis. The data reported here help advance our knowledge of the evolution of display behaviour among manakins.

Riverside wren pairs jointly defend their territories against simulated intruders

AbstractDuets are a jointly produced signal where two or more individuals coordinate their vocalizations by overlapping or alternating their songs. Duets are used in a wide array of contexts within partnerships, ranging from territory defence to pair bond maintenance. It has been proposed that pairs that coordinate their songs might also better coordinate other activities, including nest building, parental care and defending shared resources. Here, we tested in the riverside wren (Cantorchilus semibadius), a neotropical duetting species that produces highly coordinated duet songs, whether males and females show similar responses to playback. During territorial disputes in songbird species, individuals tend to direct their attention towards same‐sex territorial intruders, but this bias might be less pronounced in duetting species. We performed a dual‐speaker playback experiment to examine how mated individuals respond to speakers broadcasting female‐versus‐male duet contributions. We found that riverside wrens have high levels of converging behaviour by duetting and remaining in close proximity to one another when responding to simulated paired intruders. Males and females spent more than 80% of their time less than 1 m apart while defending their territory. Both individuals in a pair aggressively engaged with both male and female simulated trespassers by approaching equally close and spending equal time near the two speakers. These results suggest that both sexes perceive a paired territorial intrusion as a similar threat and that both partners are highly invested in defending the shared resources. This study is one of the few to demonstrate equal attention and aggression from mated pairs towards simulated same‐sex and opposite‐sex intruders. We suggest that pairs responding together, in close proximity to one another, might be favourable in duetting species when defending the territory because maintaining a close distance between partners facilitates the extreme coordination of their joint territorial signals.

Description of the acoustical interaction and synchronization between duetters of the Large-footed Finch (Pezopetes capitalis)

Duets are highly coordinated acoustical displays produced by two individuals. Studying the structure of duet songs and its causes is essential to understand the ecological role and evolution of this form of communication. Our goals in this study were to describe the structure of the duet of the Large-footed Finch, the temporal synchronization of each individual, and to test the effect of provoked (playback) duets. We recorded birds at Cerro de la Muerte, Costa Rica and simulated territory intrusions using playback trials. The duet of this species consisted of overlapping notes between both members of a mated pair, which were emitted either randomly or periodically. Temporal synchronization was similar between both individuals in a mated pair. Both partners adjust the silent intervals between notes in response to the duration of its partner’s note. The high frequency of the second part of the duet of this species decreased with time and the second individual, in duetting this part, not only synchronized its notes temporally with the first individual, but also synchronized the high frequency. The high frequency of the first note the second individual sung was a bit lower than the previous note sung by the first individual. Finally, birds responding to provoked duets produced duets with higher frequency and higher rate of notes compared to unprovoked duets. Our results provide information on the temporal and frequency synchronization in duets of an endemic emberizid and provide new information about a less reported vocal behaviour in bird duets, the acoustic frequency coordination.

New perspectives in Amazonian bird vocal behavior

Neotropical region are known for its huge avian diversity and for the dominance of Sub-oscine or Tyranni passerines species. These species diversity are reflected in vocal communication and we will present here two examples of Brazilian Amazon forest of Tyranni species. Although the Tyranni are known for presenting a stereotyped song compared to Oscine passerines, we have found a species with a complex calls repertoire and other with a distinguished individual variation. The study area is the Ecological Park of Gunma, Santa Bárbara, Pará, Brazil, 50 km north of Belém. We performed playback experiments to define the vocalizations of Rusty-margined flycatcher Myiozetetes cayanensis, species that presents a complex repertoire of 15 different vocalizations, including a complex duet song. We also studied Lipaugus vociferans, a lekking bird, in which males perform conspicuous vocalizations in aggregations. We have analyzed songs of 19 individuals from six leks, considering the physical parameters (frequency bandwidth and temporal parameters) of the species-specific song. The results showed that it is possible to differentiate the individuals by song. These differences can represent an important function in individual recognition inside or between leks. These results show the necessity to investigate the high diversity of behavior in tropical habitats.

Singing Patterns of White-Cheeked Gibbons (Nomascus sp.) in the Annamite Mountains of Laos

Studying the structure and patterns of vocalizations in primates is important to understand their evolution, responses to changing environments, and social behavior, and to design efficient vocalization-based survey techniques. Gibbons (Hylobatidae) are small arboreal apes known for their stereotyped songs. Data on their vocalization patterns remain limited, especially for crested gibbons (Nomascus spp.). We recorded songs of white-cheeked gibbons (Nomascus sp.) heard from listening posts at a site in Nakai–Nam Theun National Protected Area, central-eastern Laos, during a cold dry and a warm dry season, from November 2013 to May 2014, along with weather data. Males typically initiated the duet songs at a mean time of 06:14 h. Duet song bouts lasted a mean of 16 min. Song bout length was relatively constant throughout the study but decreased with the occurrence of wind. On a given day, the first male song started at a mean of 12 min before sunrise and all songs ceased at a mean of 13 min after sunrise. The start time of the first song relative to sunrise did not differ significantly between the two seasons but we found a significant negative relationship between the start time of the first song and both time of sunrise and temperature. The mean number of song bouts heard was significantly larger during the cold dry season than the warm dry season, and we found a significant negative relationship between the number of song bouts heard and temperature. Song rates also increased during days with no rain relative to rainy days. Our findings provide a preliminary understanding of song patterns in Nomascus spp. and can aid the planning and interpretation of surveys that rely on documenting their calls.

Context-specific close-range "hoo" calls in wild gibbons (Hylobates lar).

BackgroundClose range calls are produced by many animals during intra-specific interactions, such as during home range defence, playing, begging for food, and directing others. In this study, we investigated the most common close range vocalisation of lar gibbons (Hylobates lar), the ‘hoo’ call. Gibbons and siamangs (family Hylobatidae) are known for their conspicuous and elaborate songs, while quieter, close range vocalisations have received almost no empirical attention, perhaps due to the difficult observation conditions in their natural forest habitats.ResultsWe found that ‘hoo’ calls were emitted by both sexes in a variety of contexts, including feeding, separation from group members, encountering predators, interacting with neighbours, or as part of duet songs by the mated pair. Acoustic analyses revealed that ‘hoo’ calls varied in a number of spectral parameters as a function of the different contexts. Males’ and females’ ‘hoo’ calls showed similar variation in these context-specific parameter differences, although there were also consistent sex differences in frequency across contexts.ConclusionsOur study provides evidence that lar gibbons are able to generate significant, context-dependent acoustic variation within their main social call, which potentially allows recipients to make inferences about the external events experienced by the caller. Communicating about different events by producing subtle acoustic variation within some call types appears to be a general feature of primate communication, which can increase the expressive power of vocal signals within the constraints of limited vocal tract flexibility that is typical for all non-human primates. In this sense, this study is of direct relevance for the on-going debate about the nature and origins of vocally-based referential communication and the evolution of human speech.

Intergroup and intragroup antiphonal songs in wild male Mueller’s gibbons (Hylobates muelleri)

Mueller’s gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) sing both sex-specific and duet songs. These songs are thought to be involved in territory maintenance, as well as the maintenance of pair or family bonds. However, few observational studies have examined how gibbons interact with their neighbors through song in the wild. We have been conducting field observations of wild gibbon groups in northeast Borneo since 2001. In the Borneo Rainforest Lodge (BRL) and Danum Valley Field Center (DVFC) at the Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA), we observed seven episodes of alternating songs between males. Here, we describe the process of song exchange between males. During male interactions, song bouts rarely overlapped and were alternately emitted. Several studies have reported antiphonal vocalizations in New World and Old World primate species, but rarely in apes. Our observations of antiphonal songs in gibbons indicate that gibbons not only unilaterally advertise information, but also interactively communicate with neighbors and family members through songs. Since gibbons are phylogenetically similar to humans, and turn-taking has an important role in human conversation, our research on gibbon communication may provide insight into the evolution of human language.

Note-, phrase- and song-specific acoustic variables contributing to the individuality of male duet song in the Bornean southern gibbon (Hylobates albibarbis)

In this study, we examine acoustic individuality in male duet songs of wild, non-habituated Bornean southern gibbons (Hylobates albibarbis) and identify contributing acoustic variables. We recorded 174 male duet songs from nine groups in a rainforest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Each male portion of the duet was analysed for 14 acoustic variables at three levels of variation, including six note-specific variables (start frequency, end frequency, minimum frequency, maximum frequency, average frequency and duration), four phrase-specific variables (minimum frequency, maximum frequency, duration and number of syllables) and four song-specific variables (minimum frequency, maximum frequency, duration and number of syllables). Principal component analysis was performed to summarise each of these sets of variables into a total of six principal components (PCs). Strong acoustic individuality was found in all PCs and at all three levels: note, phrase and song (all p<0.001). Furthermore, a particularly high magnitude of individuality was found in PC1 of the song-specific analysis, defined by the acoustic variables of duration and number of syllables. Due to the high levels of individuality, we suggest that these acoustic variables may be used by Bornean southern gibbons for individual discrimination. As well as furthering our biological understanding of male gibbon song with regards to individuality and associated conspecific recognition, these findings also have the potential to help improve population survey methods, such as the acoustic sampling method using listening points, by offering a more accurate method of individual recognition.

Male and female Steere's liocichlas respond differently to solo and stereo duet playback

Duets are a form of poorly understood signal created by two individuals temporally coordinating their vocalizations. It has been hypothesized that duetting functions in (1) joint resource defence, (2) avoiding usurpation from a partnership, (3) preventing a partner from being usurped, and (4) signalling commitment to a partner. To distinguish between these hypotheses, we need to determine the intended receiver of the duets and whether duetting is a collaborative act. Steere's liocichla (Timaliidae: Liocichla steerii) is an endemic passerine bird found in the forest edge habitat of mountains in Taiwan. Mated pairs engage in duetting typically initiated by males. We conducted a stereo duet playback experiment, controlled for position effects, to examine the function of duetting in Steere's liocichla. Playback stimuli included conspecific stranger female solo song, stranger male solo song, stranger duet song and neighbour duet song. During the playbacks, males initiated nearly all vocalizations. The propensity for males to sing was not significantly different between the stranger treatments but was lower in neighbour duet playback. However, females responded more to their partner's song, thus creating the duet, after stranger female solo and stranger duet playbacks. Pair members tended to approach the playback source together rather than move separately towards different speakers. When pair members did approach different speakers, however, the birds approached the speaker singing their sex-specific song. Our findings indicate that in addition to joint resource defence, duets in Steere's liocichla also serve a mate-guarding function to avoid being usurped.

Song duets function primarily as cooperative displays in pairs of happy wrens

Vocal duetting occurs in diverse animal groups. Members of a mated pair may duet to communicate with each other or with other individuals. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the function of duets, and studies often provide support for the joint resource defence or mate-guarding hypotheses. We evaluated these hypotheses for the happy wren, Pheugopedius felix , using a two-speaker playback experiment. We observed the responses of happy wren pairs to playback of solo male, solo female and male/female duet songs, and compared these with heterospecific song control trials. Happy wrens responded aggressively to conspecific song playback by moving closer to their mate, approaching the playback speakers and increasing singing rates. Both sexes increased singing and especially duetting rates in response to conspecific playback. There were no differences in which sex initiated or terminated duets nor did birds vary the proportion of their partner’s songs answered across conspecific treatments. Furthermore, neither sex treated unmated intruders (solo playback) as more threatening than mated intruders (duet playback). Together, these results argue against the mate-guarding hypothesis and instead indicate that duetting in happy wrens functions primarily in cooperative territory defence. Overall, males sang more than females, moved closer to the speakers and were more likely to answer their partner’s songs, suggesting that males take a primary role in territorial defence. However, females also responded strongly, especially when female intruders were present (duet or female solo playback), which suggests a sex-specific division of labour in their territorial defence.

The anti-predator behaviour of wild white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar)

Predation on gibbons is rarely observed in the wild. However, the gibbons' moderate body size and relatively small social groups suggest high vulnerability to predation. To assess the role of predation and to study their anti-predator behaviour, we presented visual predator models to nine groups of wild white-handed gibbons at Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. We measured subjects' immediate and delayed responses to four potential predators: tiger, clouded leopard, crested serpent eagle and reticulated python. Subjects reliably approached all four predators. In response to tigers and leopards, they additionally produced predator-specific songs and defecated copiously. In terms of delayed responses, distance between mated adults decreased, but only after exposure to the tiger model. In response to eagles and pythons, gibbons consistently vocalised, but this did not always include predator singing, and we found no long-term effects in overall activity or strata use. However, during 6 of 26 predator encounters, the gibbons produced songs with a structure that was intermediate between a duet song and a predator song more than 20 min after the predator encounter, indicating a long-term effect on their vocal behaviour. This study demonstrates that gibbons discriminate between different potential predators and respond to them with adaptive anti-predator behaviour, which include predator-specific vocal responses. We conclude that gibbons are not immune to predation and that terrestrial predators elicit consistent immediate and delayed anti-predation responses.

Acoustic Monitoring Reveals Congruent Patterns of Territorial Singing Behaviour in Male and Female Tropical Wrens

Many animals defend territories against conspecific individuals using acoustic signals. In birds, male vocalizations are known to play a critical role in territory defence. Territorial acoustic signals in females have been poorly studied, perhaps because female song is uncommon in north-temperate ecosystems. In this study, we compare male vs. female territorial singing behaviour in Neotropical rufous-and-white wrens Thryothorus rufalbus, a species where both sexes produce solo songs and often coordinate their songs in vocal duets. We recorded free-living birds in Costa Rica using an eight-microphone Acoustic Location System capable of passively triangulating the position of animals based on their vocalizations. We recorded 17 pairs of birds for 2–4 consecutive mornings and calculated the territory of each individual as a 95% fixed kernel estimate around their song posts. We compared territories calculated around male vs. female song posts, including separate analyses of solo vs. duet song posts. These spatial analyses of singing behaviour reveal that males and females use similarly sized territories with more than 60% overlap between breeding partners. Territories calculated based on solo vs. duet song posts were of similar size and similar degrees of overlap. Solos and duets were performed at similar distances from the nest for both sexes. Overall, male and female rufous-and-white wrens exhibit very similar spatial territorial singing behaviour, demonstrating congruent patterns of male and female territoriality.