Behavioural Studies On The Response Of Breeding Japanese Tit(Parus Minor)to Different Sounds

Acoustic communication is the main mode of intra-species communication for birds and plays an important role in their survival and reproduction.Currently,studies on acoustic communication in birds have focused on acoustic structure,song function and influencing factors,but less research has been conducted on the response behaviour of song.In this thesis,the behavioural response patterns of Japanese tits ssplayback experiments during the incubation and nesting periods.The main findings of the study are as follows:1.The response behaviour of Jilin Japanese tits to the calls of the Jilin,Henan and Hainan populations were significantly different.The response latency was the shortest and the response duration was the longest when the Japanese tits responded to the song of the Henan Japanese tits;when the Jilin Japanese tits were heard,the response latency was significantly shorter than when the Hainan Japanese tits were heard,and there was no difference in response duration.Female Japanese tits showed similar response behaviour to the song of the yellow-rumped flycatcher and the song of the Japanese tits,with most showing no obvious response behaviour or simply looking inside the nest box towards the entrance.In addition,there were also no significant differences in the response behaviour of females Japanese tits to the calls of the predator sparrowhawks and parasitoid female cuckoos.2.Most female Japanese tits did not respond significantly to alarm calls from conspecific pairs of the Asian emerald cuckoos,the common cuckoos and doves,or simply looked inside the nest box towards the hole.When confronted with the alarm calls of a single Japanese tits to a chipmunk,the behavioural response intensity of Japanese tits was significantly higher than when responding to the alarm calls of five Japanese tits to a chipmunk.Jilin Japanese tits showed different behavioural responses to the alarm calls of different nesting intruders in both the local and Henan populations.Behavioural responses to squirrel alarms were highest in the local Japanese tits,followed by chipmunks,followed by hawks and weakest by doves.Henan Japanese tits showed the highest behavioural response to chipmunk alarms,followed by squirrels,followed by hawks,and the weakest by doves.There were significant differences in the behaviour of Jilin Japanese tits in response to alarm calls from the same nesting intruders between the local and Henan populations.The results show that the Jilin Japanese tits can distinguish calls between different populations and that acoustic characteristics may influence theirs response behaviour;songbird calls and natural predator calls from the same range do not convey lethal threat information to incubating Japanese tits in nest boxes;at the same time,the Jilin Japanese tits can get threat information from conspecific alarm calls and respond accordingly,and can distinguish alarm calls from local and exotic populations.