Pipit songs in the Auk

The spring issue of one of the most important ornithological journals The Auk, published by the American Ornithologists’ Union, contains the paper by Tereza Petrusková from the Department of Ecology focusing on differences of songs of a small passerine bird, the Tree Pipit, at five Czech localities. Analysis of repertoires of individual territorial males proved substantial differences of regional dialects that are reflected in the syllable composition of songs as well as in use of locally specific introductory phrases. Tree Pipit, inconspicuously coloured bird with a conspicuous singing behaviour and complex songs, turns out to be a suitable model species for testing various hypotheses about functions of different song structures and characteristics.

Petrusková T., Osiejuk T.S., Petrusek A. (2010): Geographic variation in songs of the tree pipit (Anthus trivialis) at two spatial scales. Auk, 127(2): 274-282.

_{foto © Martina Petrů}