Date of Award:

5-1-1975

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Biology

Department name when degree awarded

Biology

Committee Chair(s)

Keith L. Dixon

Committee

Keith L. Dixon

Committee

D. M. Hammond

Committee

D. F. Balph

Committee

J. A. Gessaman

Committee

H. H. Wiebe

Abstract

The development of the contact-flight, fright and chickadee-dee calls and song of 20 Black-capped Chickadees, Parus atricapillus, reared in various degrees of social and acoustic isolation was described. A previous study (Anderson, 1970) demonstrated that these vocalizations develop normally in captive-reared Black-capped Chickadees housed with conspecific adults. The present study demonstrated that the contact-flight and fright calls developed normally in birds reared in all forms of isolation. Only the rearing of birds permanently in acoustic isolation cabinets curtailed the development of chickadee-dee calls that fell within the range found in wild populations. Individuals not exposed to conspecific adults by 3 months after fledging failed to utter normal song, but those exposed earlier gave this vocalization. One Black-capped Chickadee reared with captive Mountain Chickadees developed one call similar to that of the Mountain Chickadee, but a bird reared with a Domestic Canary did not acquire any elements of canary song. The stage in the normal development affected by various forms of isolation is postulated.

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