Critical Properties in the Assembly Call of the Common American Crow
Document Type
Article
Abstract
According to tradition, the communication system of the American crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos, consists of an assortment of distinct sounds each of which is used in a particular context and has a unique meaning. Despite this traditional view, we have made field observations which suggested that the sounds employed in various different functional contexts overlap considerably. These observations further suggested that each sound does not have a single unique meaning, but that its meaning varies depending upon how it and similar sounds are temporally organized into calling sequences. In order to investigate this idea, a series of experiments were performed in which the temporal properties of natural sounds recorded from crows in the field were changed. These experiments were concerned primarily with the vocalization known as the assembly call.
Publication Title
Behavior
Publication Date
1978
Volume
64
Issue
3-4
DOI
10.1163/156853978X00026
Keywords
Corvus brachyrhynchos, American crow, assembly call
Repository Citation
Thompson, Nicholas S. and Richards, David B., "Critical Properties in the Assembly Call of the Common American Crow" (1978). Faculty Works. 40.
https://commons.clarku.edu/facultyworks/40
