Repertoire-based individual acoustic monitoring of a migratory passerine bird with complex song as an efficient tool for tracking territorial dynamics and annual return rates

In field ecological and behavioural studies, it is often necessary to identify specific individuals. In birds, colour rings are frequently used to mark individuals; however, rings are often difficult to observe, especially in small species and dense habitats. Acoustic-based monitoring detecting individuals by their characteristic vocalization is a potentially suitable alternative, but this approach is challenging in species with complex songs. On the example of the Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis), a small migratory passerine often singing in flight or from perches obscured by foliage, we demonstrate that acoustic monitoring based on the syllable repertoire can be very efficient tool for individual recognition. During a 3-year study, we obtained over 500 recordings from males from one study population (a number of them returning after winter). Males banded with colour rings were repeatedly recorded throughout the seasons, and syllable repertoires were determined from spectrograms for each...

在野外生态与行为学研究中，特定个体的识别是一项常规需求。鸟类研究中常通过彩色脚环（colour rings）对个体进行标记，但脚环往往难以被观测，尤其在小型鸟类种群以及植被茂密的生境中。基于声学的监测手段可通过个体特有的鸣唱特征实现识别，是颇具潜力的替代方案，但对于鸣唱结构复杂的物种而言，该方法仍面临较大挑战。本研究以林鹨（Anthus trivialis）为研究对象——该物种为体型小巧的迁徙性雀形目鸟类，常于飞行途中或被植被遮挡的栖木上鸣唱——结果证实，基于鸣唱音节库（syllable repertoire）的声学监测可成为一款高效的个体识别工具。在为期3年的研究周期内，我们从某研究种群的雄性个体中获取了超500条录音，其中部分个体在越冬后重返该研究区域。佩戴彩色脚环标记的雄性个体在各季节均被多次录制，我们通过声谱图（spectrogram）为每只个体确定了其鸣唱音节库……