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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.06.15.598771

Contagious vocal reaction forms avian vocal exchange: an experimental study in Java sparrows

Kikuchi, S.·Kondo, N.·Koda, H.
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Abstract

In human turn-taking, speakers alternate at very short intervals while avoiding overlaps. If speakers do not receive a vocal response from another party, they often repeat their utterance after the expected response time has elapsed to elicit a reply. Intra-individual intervals tend to be longer than inter-individual intervals. Such temporal regularity in vocal exchanges has also been observed in social mammals, such as non-human primates. In contrast, vocal exchanges in birds have been studied primarily in the context of songs, with limited research on call-based vocal exchanges. Studies specifically examining intra-individual call intervals are even scarcer. In this study, we investigated vocal exchanges and their temporal patterns in Java sparrows placed face-to-face. The results revealed that they vocalized at very short intervals following the calls of the other individual. However, no significant differences were observed between the inter- and intra-individual intervals. This contrasts with the temporal characteristics of vocal exchanges observed in social mammals that have been studied to date. We propose that a possible explanation for this difference lies in the variation in social group structures between birds and mammals.

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Kikuchi, S., Kondo, N., Koda, H.. 2024-06-16. Contagious vocal reaction forms avian vocal exchange: an experimental study in Java sparrows. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.15.598771

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