Recognition Characteristics in Covey Dialects of Bobwhite Quail

-Fifty Bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) were randomly divided into two equal-size coveys at six weeks of age. At 12 weeks the separation (“hoypoo”) call was recorded from birds in both coveys. Duration and frequency characters were measured and subjected to discriminant analysis. This analysis indicated that each covey could be segregated mainly on the difference in duration between the “hoy” and “poo” parts of the call. Another duration character and one frequency character also contributed to segregation of the call types of the two coveys. The differences in the separation call that occurred between coveys most likely resulted from within-covey learning, where those birds associated with each other develoned similarities in their calls in the form of an accent or covey dialect. The Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) is one of the most vocally communicative species of galliforms, having more than 20 documented calls with variations on these calls (Stokes 1967). This large vocabulary is used in all social situations. One of the more easily heard and recognized of the calls is the separation call, phonetically described as “hoy poo.” This call is given when birds have become separated and are attempting to reassemble the covey (Stokes 1967). Bailey (1978) found that Bobwhites within a covey could be individually identified by differences in the frequency of the “hoy” portion of the separation calls. He suggested that individuals within a covey recognized the individual-specific frequency of each bird in the covey and that this recognition would serve to maintain the integrity of a covey. Dialects of the “hoy” portion of the separation call have been demonstrated among populations in widely separated locations in the United States (Goldstein 1978). Wild-living Bobwhites are attracted to separation calls of birds having their own population dialect, showing recognition of regional dialect, but not necessarily discrimination among individual birds. Calls differ among populations in duration of notes, duration between parts of the call and in frequencies of the notes (Goldstein 1974). Combinations of variations in both frequency and duration could provide a large number of recognizable covey accents or dialects. The purpose of our study was to quantitatively examine the separation call of the Bobwhite in order to determine whether individualor covey-specific characteristics are the more useful for maintaining covey integrity and to establish which characters of the call could be used for identification of a covey. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty Bobwhite quail, one day old, were obtained from a commercial game farm. The quail were brooded in a battery brooder until six weeks old. Birds were then divided randomly into two 25bird coveys and individually marked with numbered, color-coded leg bands for individual and covey identification. We then moved the birds to the field and held each covey in a recall pen (2 X 1 X .75 m). The pens were about 200 m apart. Each pen was freely supplied with water and pelleted pheasant grower ration. We began recording the separation call of the quail when the birds were 12 weeks old, the age when the adult form of the call is established (Kochenderfer 197 1). Recordings were made each morning about an hour after sunrise and in late afternoon during the last hour before sunset. For each recording session, we took three birds from one covey and placed them in old-field cover about 25 m apart and 25 to 50 m from their home pens. Up to five repetitions of the “hoy poo” were recorded from each bird and each bird was recorded in one session only. All birds in Covey 1 were recorded before those in Covey 2. All recording was completed in two weeks. Calls were recorded on a Uher 4000 ReportL tape recorder using a Uher M534 unidirectional microphone mounted in a parabola (d = 45 cm). Microphone-to-bird distance was approximately equal on all recorded calls and