2021 Birds New Zealand Conference

On Saturday 5th June, at 2:50 pm in Thames Aotearoa-New Zealand, I have presented our research on titipounamu-rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris) at the 2021 Birds New Zealand Conference. I presented our new genetic and socio-geographic results, which are aiming to understand how the social environment influences the vocal structure of titipounamu. The main goal of this research was to detect forms of vocal learning abilities or social influences in this species.

Below is our 2021 Birds NZ abstract with its associated poster (a slightly modified version from the 2021 Birds NZ poster):

Insights into the vocal learning abilities of an Aotearoa bird: How much is innate or learned in Titipounamu vocalizations?

Vocal learning is a complex behavior with innate and learned components that enables animals to imitate sounds from conspecifics. Disentangling the genetic and socially influenced components of vocal behaviors can help determine a species’ level of vocal learning abilities. In birds, vocal learning is present in three main phylogenetic groups, the parrots, the oscine songbirds, and the hummingbirds, and is assumed to be absent in all other avian groups. Yet, the vocal learning abilities of other avian groups are poorly documented, so vocal learning may be more widespread than previously thought. Titipounamu (Rifleman, Acanthisitta chloris granti) shares a common ancestor with both parrots and passerines, and its vocal learning ability is assumed to be entirely innate; however, this has never been tested. Here, we investigate the genetic and socially-influenced components of the vocal behavior of Titipounamu. We determined individual relatedness from the Boundary Stream Mainland Island population using high-throughput genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), recorded Titipounamu feeding calls, and determined their level of social proximity as a proxy for social interaction. We found that the social, genetic, and residual components (unexplained by either genetic or social components) of acoustic parameters of feeding calls vary for each acoustic parameter and that there was no correlation between relatedness and acoustic similarity. This suggests that distantly related individuals living in close proximity sound similar and that titipounamu vocal behavior may be more flexible than previously thought. By investigating genetic and social variance components of a vocal behavior, our study advances our understanding of the evolution of vocal learning in birds.

This research was funded by Birds New Zealand with the Birds New Zealand Research Fund (BNZRF), which supported the genetic part of this research. Birds New Zealand is a very active group in New Zealand that supports the science of many talented scientists and contributes to solving many crucial conservation issues related to birds. If you wish to learn more about their work or their Birds New Zealand Research Fund (BNZRF), check out their website (https://www.birdsnz.org.nz).

In addition to Birds New Zealand Research Fund, my research would not have been possible without mana whenua from the Maungaharuru region (https://tangoio.maori.nz) and members of DOC (Boundary Stream Mainland Island) (https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/mainland-islands/boundary-stream/) for welcoming our team on their pristine and beautiful natural site. Their teams are doing a fantastic job preserving emblematic and majestic species from Aotearoa. I am also grateful for the Marsden Fund - Royal Society of New Zealand (https://www.royalsociety.org.nz) that helped with expenses related to my field site for this research.