The Parulidae family, or wood warblers, is found in the Americas. Parulidae species’ habitats, weights, migration patterns, and song behaviors vary. Specifically, song behaviors vary in repertoire size (i.e., the amount of unique song types each individual sings), different contexts in which dissimilar song types are sung, and whether one or both sexes sing. The variation in these traits has likely been affected by evolution. To test evolutionary hypotheses about this variation we collected data on species habitat, weight, and migratory behavior from the literature., as these variables can affect sound transmission, production, and sexual selection, respectively. We are using the bioacoustic software Raven to measure sound data from archived recordings from xeno-canto, an online library of most bird species’ sounds. We are using Mesquite software to map habitat, weight, migration, and song data on the present phylogeny of 107 species in this family (Lovette et al. 2010).
Results/Conclusions
Preliminary results show that migratory behavior correlated with a lower species weight; therefore we predict that song frequency will be highest in the migratory warblers. We also predict that similarities in song types and repertoire size will be affected by relatedness, habitat, and migratory behavior. Cursory qualitative analysis shows similarities in song structure within genera. For example, members of the Geothylpis genus tend to have clear, whistled notes that are repeated in patterns, whereas individuals in the generally tropical Myiothlypis genus are more likely to sing trills and duets. In contrast, the Setophaga genus is more varied, with different species having clear notes, buzzes, and/or trills in variable patterns.