Summer calling activity patterns of a bird assemblage in a Valdivian temperate rainforest biodiversity hotspot

ABSTRACT

Birds generally produce vocalisations in specific daily temporal windows. Describing diel-calling activity patterns along with taxonomic group and guild membership increase the knowledge about potential factors shaping the behaviour of these animals. This information is also highly relevant for the enhancement of monitoring plans for conservation. We performed a passive acoustic monitoring to describe the diel calling activity patterns of a bird assemblage within the Valdivian temperate rainforest, associating the patterns to taxonomic group and diet guild, and also aiming to contribute to the enhancement of ecological monitoring within this biodiversity hotspot. Our results indicate that high richness levels are detected around sunrise and sunset. Also, within the bird assemblage studied, most birds show diurnal vocal activity, among which several were also active during crepuscular periods, and only two species had nocturnal vocal activity. Among diurnal birds with enough number of detections to perform a detailed description of diel calling patterns, our results did not show clear trends considering diet guild or taxonomic group. We expect that this information encourages future research to increase the understanding on the factors influencing vocal activity patterns, as well as population and community trends from this biodiversity hotspot.

KEYWORDS:

• Passive acoustic monitoring
• acoustic recording units
• vocalization
• bird community

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.2023.2280533

Additional information

Funding

FNMG was supported by Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado, Universidad Católica del Maule, [UCM-IN-21208]. This report was completed during the award of FONDECYT Grant [1201197] to MP.