Abstract
Studies on the pattern of geographic variation in bird vocalizations can facilitate the understanding of the evolutionary history of species and species differentiation. The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a non-passerine widely distributed in Eurasia, and its calls are not acquired through learning. Revealing the geographic pattern of Common Cuckoo calls may help our understanding of the relationship between environment, genetic differentiation, and vocal differentiation. In the present study, geographic variation in the calls of the Common Cuckoo was investigated throughout Eurasia for the first time. Calls of different subspecies of the Common Cuckoo were compared, and the correlations between differences in calls, geographic distance, climatic differences, and altitude differences were determined in order to evaluate the influence of subspecies differentiation, isolation by distance and environmental differences on call differentiation. The results showed there to be significant differences in the calls of different subspecies of the Common Cuckoo. Discriminant function analysis was able to correctly identify 81.7 % of individuals to their original subspecies, and 98 % of individuals of subspecies subtelephonus were correctly assigned. Differences in calls both within and between subspecies were found to be significantly correlated with geographic distance, while environmental differences have no important effect. Our study stressed the effect of isolation by distance on geographic variation of non-passerine vocalization, and we infer that the great divergence in calls between different Common Cuckoo subspecies may be a hint of cryptic species.
Zusammenfassung
Geographische Variation in den Rufen des Kuckucks ( Cuculus canorus ): Isolation durch Entfernung und Unterschiede zwischen Unterarten
Studien über die geographischen Verteilungsmuster von Lautäußerungen der Vögel können das Verständnis der evolutionären Geschichte von Arten erleichtern. Der Kuckuck (Cuculus canorus) ist ein in Eurasien weit verbreiteter Nichtsperlingsvogel, dessen Rufe nicht erlernt werden. Die geographische Verteilung der Kuckucksrufe darzustellen könnte helfen den Zusammenhang zwischen Umwelt, genetischer Differenzierung und stimmlicher Differenzierung zu verdeutlichen. In dieser Studie wurden erstmals die geographischen Unterschiede zwischen den Rufen des Kuckucks in Eurasien untersucht. Die Rufe verschiedener Unterarten wurden verglichen und die Korrelationen zwischen Unterschieden im Ruf, geographischer Entfernung, klimatischer Unterschiede und Höhenunterschieden berechnet, um die Einflüsse von Unterartendifferenzierung, Isolation durch Entfernung und Umweltfaktoren auf Rufe zu ermitteln. Es zeigten sich signifikante Unterschiede in den Rufen verschiedener Unterarten des Kuckucks. Eine Diskriminanzanalyse war in der Lage, 81,7 % der Individuen ihrer Unterart richtig zuzuordnen und 98 % der Individuen der Unterart subtelephonus wurden richtig zugeordnet. Unterschiede in Rufen sowohl in derselben Unterart als auch zwischen Unterarten waren signifikant mit der geographischen Entfernung korreliert, während Umweltfaktoren keinen Einfluss hatten. Unsere Studie betont den Effekt der Isolation durch Entfernung auf die geographischen Unterschiede in den Lautäußerungen von Nichtsperlingsvögeln und wir schließen aus der großen Variation in Rufen zwischen verschiedenen Unterarten des Kuckucks, dass es sich um eine kryptische Art handeln könnte.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Prof. Franz Bairlein and two anonymous reviewers who provided helpful comments, which helped us greatly improve this manuscript. The recordists from www.xeno-canto.org and www.avocet.zoology.msu.edu used in this study were much appreciated. We thank Kuankuoshui, Dongzhai and Zhalong National Nature Reserves for support and permission to carry out this study, Longwu Wang, Tongping Su, Juan Huo for assistance with fieldwork, Yajing Chang for assistance with climate data extraction, and Jiangqiang Li, Xiaofeng Zhang for offering four of their recordings. This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31272328 and 31472013 to WL, 31172098 to YZ and 31272300 to CJ).
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The experiments comply with the current laws of China in which they were performed.
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Communicated by F. Bairlein.
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Wei, C., Jia, C., Dong, L. et al. Geographic variation in the calls of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus): isolation by distance and divergence among subspecies. J Ornithol 156, 533–542 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1153-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1153-6