for National Geographic News
The intertwining songs of tropical wrens are their weapons of choice in turf wars, says a new study that could also shed light on other duetting species. The duets may also help the birds locate one another in dense foliage.
(Related: "Tropical Wrens Sing Complex Tunes, Researchers Find" [August 8, 2006].)
The new discoveries were made using a new multi-microphone technology, which triangulates the positions of singing birds in trees even when they aren't visible.
"With this technique, we can find exactly where breeding pairs are while they perform duets, and where males and females move between subsequent duets," said study leader Daniel Mennill, a biologist at the University of Winsdor in Canada whose work is partially funded by the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration.
Mennill and his team recorded the duets of tropical rufous-and-white wrens in the forests of Santa Rosa National Park in northwestern Costa Rica.
Male and female wrens sing flutelike songs that are so tightly synchronized that human listeners often mistake the duets for the songs of a single animal.
Like many duetting animals, the wrens are highly secretive, and they live in dense tropical forests that shield them from view.
Using the new microphone technology, Mennill and his team could track the positions of the birds in the foliage without having to first capture and tag them.
Among the team's revelations was that male and female wrens use duets to find one another.
One bird sings, listens for the songs of its partner, and moves toward its partner after hearing a response, Mennill said.
Battle Songs
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