Vocal and visual communication of the Falklands skua (2013-2017)

The dataseries includes data on vocal communication of Falklands skua at Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands, collected in the period 2013-2017. Along with data from Sea Lion Island, that shelters 100-125 breeding pairs, data on skuas from other islands (Carcass Is., Saunders Is., Bleaker Is., Pebble Is. and Islet, and Steeple Jason Is.) have been collected in 2016-2017. Pairs and nests have been identified and recorded adult and chick vocalizations in all studied sites, obtaining a large sample of good quality recordings. Skuas were found to have a complex vocal communication system, that there is individual variation in vocal behaviour and vocal reactivity of different individuals, and that calls have important individual features. A preliminary vocal repertoire for the species has been drafted, and we found that the contact call seems to be the best part of the repertoire to study individual recognition. The quantitative analysis of individual and geographic variation is currently in progress. Further information is available on the research group website, www.eleseal.org.

Data and Resources

This dataset has no data

Additional Info

Field	Value
Last Updated	December 14, 2020, 09:55 (PST)
Created	January 30, 2020, 05:23 (PST)
Region	Falkland Islands
Language	eng
Topic Category	Biota; flora and/or fauna in natural environment
Temporal Extent Start	2013-01-01
Temporal Extent End	2017-12-31
Dataset Reference Date	2017
Lineage	The dataseries icluded records of vocalizations of at least one adult at each nest that was found. The recordins is mostly of adults, but whenever possible chicks were also recorded. Recording were performed by carefully approaching the animals at the nest, which usually elicits a vocal response. Great care was taken to avoid adverse behavioural effects (abandonment of nests) and to reduce the duration of the solicitation to a minimum. During each audio recording session the kind of calls emitted by the different individuals and their behaviour and reaction to the approach was noted down. Recordings of calls were carried out using digital recorders (Marantz PMD 660) and directional microphones (Sennheiser MD-441 and ME-67). Displaying individuals and pairs were video recorded opportunistically with the same camera. Recordings were transferred to a mobile workstation (Dell M4700) and processed using acoustic analysis software. Waveforms, power spectra, and spectrograms were calculated and visualized in Raven (version 1.5). Fundamental frequency tracking was carried out in Praat. The study required no handling or marking of adults or chicks, and was non invasive. Professional guidelines for the study of wildlife (Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour 2012) were strictly followed.
West Longitude	187477.46
South Latitude	4133693.23
East Longitude	452531.38
North Latitude	4341392.2
Spatial Reference System	UTM 21S WGS84
Responsible Organisation Name	Hidden (personal data protection)
Contact Mail Address	Hidden (personal data protection)
Responsible Party Role	Hidden (personal data protection)
Access Limitations	Restricted, send data request to data owner
Use Constraints	Restricted, but open subject to limitations and prior agreement with responsible organisation. Copyright must be cited
Resource Reference	Copyright ESRG 1995-present - All Rights Reserved. Please contact ESRG before citing unpublished reports.
Data Format	csv, wav
Update Frequency	annually
Accuracy	Collection of all other data is compliant to usual research standards, and a great effort is put to guarantee high repeatability of data.
Resource Type	Dataseries
Original Title	Hidden (internal use only)
Metadata Date	2019-04-03
Metadata Point of Contact	datamanager@saeri.ac.fk
Contact Consent	Contact details hidden
Unique Resource ID	FK-ESRG-390

Dataset extent

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