Short Communications
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Short Communications The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119(3):455–458, 2007 Description of Male Vocalizations of the Turquoise Cotinga (Cotinga ridgwayi) Ce´sar Sa´nchez,1,4 Viviana Ruiz-Gutie´rrez,2 and Daniel Martı´nez-A.3 ABSTRACT.—We describe the first recordings of a canet and while searching for the fledgling. male vocalization of the Turquoise Cotinga (Cotinga The only known male vocalization of the Tur- ridgwayi) along with reviewing the sound production quoise Cotinga was heard by F. G. Stiles (pers. in the genus Cotinga. Vocalizations were heard in the Coto Brus region of southwestern Costa Rica from late comm.) while manipulating a mist-netted bird. 2003 until early 2005. The vocalization described is The bird emitted a surprisingly loud, mule- different from previous calls known for the species and like raucous ‘‘caaaoo.’’ Here we describe an- genus. The vocalization is a pure tone, produced at a other vocalization uttered by males of the Tur- high frequency. These vocalizations were observed in quoise Cotinga while adding information on a variety of contexts, although more often during alarm the context of the call production of a Vul- or advertisement situations. Received 18 September 2006. Accepted 14 December 2006. nerable and endemic species (Birdlife Inter- national 2000). We also provide a general dis- cussion on the sound production of this little known but widespread genus (Cotinga). The genus Cotinga is a monophyletic line- age comprising seven species (Snow 1982, METHODS Prum et al. 2000). It is part of one of the least- Our observations were from late November studied neotropical bird families in which lit- 2003 until mid-January 2005. Most observa- tle is known about the ecology and behavior tions were made opportunistically while con- of the majority of species. The Cotinga are ducting bird-watching tours and every time a considered almost voiceless (Snow et al. cotinga was observed (or heard), we compiled 2004) but adult males produce mechanical rat- the data. Most of our observations were re- tling noises during flight (Snow 1982). Until corded at Las Cruces Biological Station recently, vocalizations had been described (LCBS) in southwestern Costa Rica (8Њ 47Ј N, only for the Spangled Cotinga (Cotinga cay- 82Њ 57Ј W), but included observations from ana) (Chaves 2001). Its vocalization is de- Las Alturas Biological Station (8Њ 57Ј N, 82Њ scribed as a soft, medium-pitched ‘‘hooo’’ re- 50Ј W) and other nearby sites. The area sur- peated 2–3 times at irregular intervals, pro- rounding LCBS is a botanical garden that in- duced while displaying. These displays did cludes a mixture of secondary growth with not include mechanical sounds emitted during some emerging canopy trees (Borgella et al. male flights. The other known vocalizations 2001). Turquoise Cotingas varied widely in have been produced by females of the genus occurrence during the observation period, (Snow et al. 2004). Skutch (1969) observed a ranging from zero individuals for up to 2 female Turquoise Cotinga (Cotinga ridgwayi) months to 2–4 individuals on a daily basis for emitting a clear, monosyllabic ‘‘ic, ic, ic’’ as long as 30 days. These visits were consis- alarm-call after its nest was attacked by a tou- tent with high fruit abundance of Ficus spp., Erythroxylum sp., and species of wild avoca- 1 Laboratorio de Bioacu´stica, Escuela de Biologı´a, dos (Lauraceae). Turquoise Cotingas frequent- Universidad de Costa Rica, Ciudad Universitaria Rod- ly perch on dead exposed branches of trees rigo Facio, San Jose´, Costa Rica. above canopy level (Stiles and Skutch 1989). 2 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Fourteen of 17 observed vocalizations were Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker emitted while cotingas perched high above the Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850, USA. 3 Apdo. Postal 497-7050, Cartago, Costa Rica. ground although, on three occasions, the birds 4 Corresponding author; e-mail: were observed vocalizing below the canopy [email protected] while feeding as low as 4 m above the ground. 455 456 THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol. 119, No. 3, September 2007 FIG. 1. Vocalization (A) and mechanical sound (B) (produced during flight) of adult male Turquoise Cotin- gas, Estacio´n Biolo´gica Las Cruces, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. We were able to make recordings along with almost no frequency modulation (Fig. with our observations of the Turquoise Cotin- 1A). Two songs were recorded on 21 July gas. Vocalizations were recorded with a Mar- 2004, although we were not able to detect antz PMD-222 tape recorder and a Sennheizer whether they were emitted by the same male MKH-70 microphone. Tapes were deposited or by two individuals. Both vocalizations are at Laboratorio de Bioacu´stica, Universidad de similar and the variables measured confirm Costa Rica. Sounds were digitized with Raven their resemblance: high frequency ϭ 7.33 and 1.2.1 (Charif et al. 2004) at 44100 Hz (16 bit). 7.30 kHz, respectively; low frequency ϭ 7.06 We used this software to measure and analyze and 7.02 kHz; frequency range ϭ 0.27 and the sonograms following these settings: trans- 0.28 kHz; song length ϭ 0.59 and 0.62 sec; form length ϭ 512 points, frequency resolu- maximum frequency ϭ 7.17 and 7.14 kHz; tion ϭ 86.1 Hz, time resolution ϭ 1.18 msec, maximum power ϭ 97 and 82.7 decibels. The and window ϭ hamming. different distances from the birds to the mi- crophone (4 and 25 m) largely explains the OBSERVATIONS difference in maximum power. The first vo- We observed males uttering vocalizations calization occurred when a male flew directly during 15 occasions at LCBS and two occa- towards another, which was perched and feed- sions at Las Alturas. Some individuals were ing. When the approaching male was close to observed opening their bills wide while emit- the perched male, it vocalized and proceeded ting the vocalization. The vocalization is a to move within the same tree. The second vo- pure tone, resembling a metallic high pitch, calization was recorded while one male was SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 457 feeding, but we were not able to see the in- duction with wing feathers have not been dividual at the moment it vocalized. studied for Turquoise Cotinga or any other We also heard but did not record this same species in the genus to our knowledge. type of vocalization on 15 occasions. During two observations, adult males vocalized after DISCUSSION interacting with individuals of the same or Our observations indicate that male Tur- other species. One occurred when an imma- quoise Cotinga not only produce vocal ture male flew towards an adult perched male, sounds, but they also produce them fairly reg- landing within 2 m. The adult vocalized once ularly. The vocalization was only seen pro- as soon as the immature male landed. Another duced by adult males, despite several months non-recorded vocalization was produced when of observations, and not by females or young a male, perched at the top of a ϳ25 m tall males. The predominance of male vocaliza- tree, was approached by two flying Brown- tion in the Cotingidae is a common phenom- hooded Parrots (Pionopsitta haematotis), enon, a trait often considered to be sexually which landed within a meter. The cotinga vo- selected (Andersson 1994). This is consistent calized when the parrots landed, but after- with the high extent of sexual dimorphism wards the bird remained in the tree for at least present in most members of the family, in- 10 min without vocalizing. Other observations cluding the genus Cotinga. Kroodsma (2004) occurred—seemingly—without interactions recently suggested that some members of the with other birds. On two consecutive occa- Cotingidae can learn their songs. Young sions, we heard an individual emit a series of Three-wattled Bellbirds (Procnias tricarun- three vocalizations every 20–30 sec. Another culatus) take 6–7 years to perfect their dialects individual produced one vocalization three and it can be expected that other members in times about every 2 min. Males were ob- the family can take several years to perform served emitting the same vocalization in three their adult vocalizations. This might explain other occasions, but no apparent interactions why no young male Turquoise Cotingas were were noticed with other individuals from the observed vocalizing. same or other species. Several interactions The vocalization seems to serve as an ad- (e.g., harassments, fly-overs) were observed vertisement or as an alarm, as it was produced between males, females, and both genders during encounters with individuals approach- without vocalizations being emitted. All vo- ing the calling male. Other vocalizations heard calizations observed were produced by adult occurred during events where we did not re- males; we observed females or young males cord interactions between members of the on eight occasions but they did not vocalize. same or other species. It is possible the vo- The other sounds known for male Tur- calization occurs in another context rather quoise Cotingas are mechanical ‘‘rattles,’’ than advertisement-alarm. Our observations produced during flight (Fig. 1B). Each time a span more than a year suggesting cotingas do male flies, it produces a stuttering or tittering not emit calls only during the breeding season sound, even when making short sallies (Ͼ1m) as Turquoise Cotingas are known to breed (CS, pers. obs.). These sounds are a series of during March (Stiles and Skutch 1989). short pulses, which start at low frequencies The function of mechanical sounds pro- and increase in frequency and bandwidth until duced with the wings remains untested but leveling off at the fourth or fifth pulse. The probably is related to sexual displays and mate length of each pulse is variable and the num- attraction (Snow 1982).