Wind farm noise suppresses territorial defense behavior in a songbird

Mieke C. Zwart, Jonathon C. Dunn, Philip J.K. McGowan and Mark J. Whittingham

Behavioral Ecology, 2016, vol. 27, issue 1, 101-108

Abstract: In birds, anthropogenic noise has been linked to reduced breeding densities and success, but the mechanisms by which this occurs are currently unclear. In this study, we investigated whether wind turbine noise, an increasingly common source of anthropogenic noise in remote and rural locations, affects territory defense in a songbird, the European robin (Erithacus rubecula). We showed that robins increase low-frequency song elements in response to territorial intrusion under quiet conditions but that this response did not occur in the presence of wind turbine noise. These results are particularly interesting in light of previous work implicating low-frequency song in aggression, perhaps as a signal of body size. Thus, anthropogenic noise may affect their ability to deter an intruder, leading to expenditure of extra time and energy, to increased risks of injury and, as a consequence, reduced breeding success. Our study contributes to understanding the impact of anthropogenic noise on birds by linking disruptive noise and territorial behavior, which may be a mechanism underlying the reduction in bird breeding densities and success that has been reported in noisy areas.

Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/beheco/arv128 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:beheco:v:27:y:2016:i:1:p:101-108.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Behavioral Ecology is currently edited by Louise Barrett

More articles in Behavioral Ecology from International Society for Behavioral Ecology Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().