Matthias Vögeli Bird song can be influenced by habitat fragmentation, according to a new analysis of the songs of more than 200 Dupont's Larks Zoom In

Birds sound alarm over habitat fragmentation

27-02-2006

Bird song can be influenced by habitat fragmentation, according to a study published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology (42: 1183–1193).

Analysis of songs of more than 200 Dupont's Larks Chersophilus duponti in Spain and Morocco found that in fragmented habitats there was increased mimicry between neighbouring birds, resulting in an intensification of the differences between non-neighbouring individuals. Sharing song types – when a male replies to a rival’s song with the same song sequence – is common in birds, and is thought to act as a threat signal between males.

"This suggests that males from fragmented habitats perceived as rivals only the close neighbours with which they engaged in counter-singing," say the study’s authors, Dr Paola Laiolo and Dr José Tella of Spain’s Estación Biologica de Doñana. "Bird vocalisations could become an early warning system for detecting the effects of habitat fragmentation before other indicators – such as genetic markers – show any change," they conclude.

Dupont's Lark was uplisted last year to Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, largely due to declines in Spain, the only European country in which it occurs (making the species one of Europe's rarest birds). Little is known about its numbers or distribution in North Africa.