Statistical classification of black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain chickadee (P. gambeli) call notes

Michael R. W. Dawson (1) , Laurie L. Bloomfield (1) , Isabelle Charrier (2, 1) , Christopher B. Sturdy (1)

1 University of Alberta
2 NAMC - Neurobiologie de l'apprentissage, de la mémoire et de la communication

Both black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) produce a chick-a-dee call that consists of several distinct note types. In some regions, these 2 species live sympatrically, and it has been shown that 1 species will respond weakly to songs of the other. This suggests that chickadee song, and potentially other of their vocalizations, contains species-specific information. We tested the possibility that call notes were acoustically sufficient for species identification. Black-capped and mountain non-D notes were summarized as a set of 9 features and then analyzed by linear discriminant analysis. Linear discriminant analysis was able to use these notes to identify species with 100% accuracy. We repeated this approach, but with black-capped and mountain D notes that were summarized as a set of 4 features. Linear discriminant analysis was able to use these notes to identify species with 94% accuracy. This demonstrates that any of the note types in these chickadee calls possesses sufficient information for species classification.

Domaines: Neurobiologie

Michael R. W. Dawson, Laurie L. Bloomfield, Isabelle Charrier, Christopher B. Sturdy. Statistical classification of black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain chickadee (P. gambeli) call notes. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2006, 120 (2), pp.147-153. ⟨10.1037/0735-7036.120.2.147⟩. ⟨hal-00315209⟩