Brooks, Libby

Coyne, Shani

Slater, Fred

Smith, Jeremy

Thomas, Robert

English

University of South Wales Research Explorer

SHORT NOTE: Nocturnal calling by a Pied Flycatcher on 1	arrival in breeding habitat during spring migration 2	 3	 4	Jeremy A Smith*,1,2, Libby SG Brooks1,2, Shani L Coyne1, Fred M Slater1, 5	Robert J Thomas1,2  6	 7	1 Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, Wales, CF10 3AX 8	2 Eco-explore Community Interest Company www.eco-explore.co.uk  9	* Corresponding author: Jeremy Smith, email SmithJ53@Cardiff.ac.uk 10	 	11	 	12	The Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca is a long distance migrant which still 13	breeds in high densities in mid-Wales, despite the species’ UK-wide 14	population decline of >50% in just 25 years (Eaton et al. 2015). Pied 15	Flycatchers winter in West Africa and generally return to their Welsh breeding 16	grounds in mid-late April. Males typically arrive first, in order to establish and 17	defend breeding territories prior to the arrival of the females several days later 18	(Cramp & Simmons 2004, Lundberg & Alatalo 2010). 19	 20	Pied Flycatchers are visual foragers and are diurnally active during most of 21	their annual cycle, with the exception of their migration flights which like many 22	songbird species are undertaken nocturnally (Martin 1990). Much research 23	has been conducted on the behavior and ecology of the Pied Flycatcher, 24	including the timing of migration and arrival on the breeding grounds, but 25	there appears to be no record in the literature of this species vocalizing at 26	night (Cramp & Simmons 2004, Lundberg & Alatalo 2010). This record 27	documents the nocturnal calling of a Pied Flycatcher on arrival in breeding 28	habitat in spring. 29	 30	On the 3rd of April 2017 a Pied Flycatcher was heard calling from 22:35 BST 31	(21:35 GMT) in an area of woodland at Llysdinam Field Centre near 32	Newbridge-on-Wye, mid Wales (52.216ºN, 3.451ºW). This location has a long 33	tradition of Pied Flycatcher monitoring based on a nestbox scheme first 34	established in 1911 (Slater 1998, 1999), and the bird was calling from a 35	location which normally holds a Pied Flycatcher breeding territory. Sunset on 36	this date was 19:51 BST, and civil dusk twilight ended at 20:26 BST. 37	 38	The calling Pied Flycatcher appeared to be a newly arrived individual, as this 39	was the first record of a Pied Flycatcher at the Field Centre in spring 2017, 40	and none were seen or heard in the area during the preceding three days 41	(personal observations by FS who was running a course at the Field Centre 42	31st March to 2nd April), including during fieldwork in the same area of 43	woodland during the preceding day between 16:00 and 17:00 BST (JS, LB, 44	SC, personal observations). Furthermore, the earliest Pied Flycatchers to be 45	recorded in the county (Powys) in 2017 were reported only the previous day 46	near the village of Beulah, 11.5km from Llysdinam 47	(www.brecknockbirds.co.uk, report by Andrew Dally 2nd April 2017). 	48	 49	At the time of the observation on 3rd April 2017 there was light drizzle and the 50	external lights were on at the Field Centre, illuminating limited sections of the 51	surroundings, which were otherwise not subject to noticeable light pollution or 52	“skyglow”. The Pied Flycatcher was first heard calling at 22:35 BST and a 53	sound recording was made of the call with an iPhone; the call was distant, but 54	clearly audible on the recording (Cramp & Simmons 2004, Lundberg & Alatalo 55	2010). The sound file was immediately messaged to RT for confirmation of 56	the identification by comparison with the audio recordings available in the 57	xenocanto.com archive.  58	 59	A short acoustic playback test was then carried out by playing Pied Flycatcher 60	calls using the first two such recordings available in the Xeno-Canto archive at 61	the time (both were recorded in Spain by José Carlos Sires on 20th 62	September 2016). The bird did not approach the speaker but appeared to call 63	in response to the playback, from multiple locations covering a diameter of 64	~50m as it moved around within the woodland. Given the changing locations 65	from which calls were heard it is possible that there more than one bird may 66	have called, but this was not verified. The bird did not approach the speaker 67	but carried on calling until 23:00 BST, after which no more responses to 68	playback were obtained. 	69	 70	On the next day (4th April) bird surveys were undertaken in the same area at 71	Llysdinam Field Centre, and at nearby woodlands 2.5 Km from Llysdinam 72	(Coed Ty Mawr, 52.205ºN, -3.487ºW). No Pied Flycatchers were found at 73	Llysdinam, but at least three newly arrived males were on territories in Coed 74	Ty Mawr. Subsequent surveys revealed Pied Flycatchers to be present 75	continuously from 4th April at Coed Ty Mawr, and from 6th April at Llysdinam. 76	The first 2017 spring arrival at Llysdinam on the evening of the 3rd April was 77	10 days earlier than in the previous year (13th April 2016) and substantially 78	earlier than the long-term mean arrival date for the location, of 9th-11th April 79	(FS personal observations). 80	 81	Taken together, the early date, the absence of Pied Flycatchers in the 82	preceding days at Llysdinam and the nearby woodlands of Coed Ty Mawr, 83	and the presence of Pied Flycatchers in subsequent days, suggests that the 84	Pied Flycatcher calling on the night of the 3rd of April was a newly arrived 85	male, which may have moved on from Llysdinam the same night or the 86	following morning. To our knowledge, this is the first record of nocturnal 87	calling by a newly arrived Pied Flycatcher during spring migration. 88	 89	Nocturnal calling is regular among some species of songbirds that migrate in 90	loose flocks, such as Redwings Turdus iliacus, which call in flight in order to 91	maintain contact with the rest of the flock (Cramp & Simmons 2004, Hamilton 92	1962, La 2012). Other species such as Common Nightingales Luscinia 93	megarhynchos sing at night from breeding territories, primarily in order to 94	attract nocturnally migrating females into the breeding territory during –or 95	following- arrival (Amrhein et al. 2002, Roth et al. 2009), and switch to 96	primarily daytime singing once they have acquired a mate (Cramp & Simmons 97	2004, Amrhein et al. 2002, Thomas 2002). The Pied Flycatcher calls reported 98	here were given from perches within suitable breeding habitat. However, in 99	contrast to habitat specialists such as Reed Warblers Acrocephalus 100	scirpaceus, habitat generalists such as Pied Flycatchers do not appear to use 101	acoustic information, including song, as a cue for recognition of suitable 102	habitat (Mukhin et al. 2008). However, song rate is used by female Pied 103	Flycatchers as a cue for mate selection (Alatalo et al. 1990). The function of 104	the nocturnal calling that we report here is not known with certainty, but may 105	be a means by which newly arrived males assess the presence of other 106	(male) Pied Flycatchers in the locality. Indeed, this could even be the reason 107	why the calling bird that we observed moved on from the territory at Llysdinam 108	which appeared to be already occupied by another calling bird, though this 109	apparent rival was actually the group of observers with their playback 110	recording. 111	 	112	 	113	References 114	 115	Alatalo, R., Glynn, C. & Lundberg, A. 1990. Singing rate and female attraction in the 116	pied flycatcher: an experiment. Animal Behaviour 39: 601-603.  117	 118	Amrhein, V., Korner, P. & Naguib, M. 2002. Nocturnal and diurnal singing activity in 119	the Nightingale: correlations with mating status and breeding cycle. Animal 120	Behaviour 64: 939-944. 121	 122	Cramp, S. & Simmons, K.E.L. 2004. BWPi: Birds of the Western Palearctic 123	interactive DVD-ROM. BirdGuides Ltd. & Oxford University Press, Oxford. 124	 125	Eaton, M.A., Aebischer, N.J, Brown, A.F., Hearn, R.D., Lock, L., Musgrove, A.J., 126	Noble, D.G., Stroud, D.A. & Gregory, R.D. 2015. Birds of Conservation Concern 4: 127	the population status of birds in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of 128	Man. British Birds 108: 708–746.  129	 130	Hamilton, W.J. 1962. Evidence concerning the function of nocturnal call notes of 131	migratory birds. Condor 64: 390-401. 132	 133	La, V.T. 2012. Diurnal and nocturnal birds vocalize at night: A review. Condor 114: 134	245-257. 135	 136	Lundberg, A. & Alatalo, R.V. 2010. The Pied Flycatcher. Poyser. 137	 138	Martin, G. 1990. Birds by night. Poyser. 139	 140	Mukhin, A., Chernetsov, N. & Kishkinev, D. 2008. Acoustic information as a distance 141	cue for habitat recognition by nocturnally migrating passerines during 142	landfall. Behavioral Ecology 19: 716-723. 143	 144	Roth, T.P., Sprau, R., Schmidt, M., Naguib, M. & Amrhein, V. 2009. Sex-specific 145	timing of mate searching and territory prospecting in the nightingale: nocturnal life of 146	females. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276: 2045-2050. 147	 148	Slater, F.M. 1998. Three-quarters of a century of pied flycatcher (Ficedula 149	hypoleuca) in mid-Wales. Welsh Birds 2(1): 16-20. 150	 151	Slater, F.M. 1999. First egg date fluctuations for the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula 152	hypoleuca in the woodlands of mid-Wales in the twentieth century. Ibis 141(3): 497-153	499. 154	 155	Thomas, R.J. 2002. Seasonal changes in the nocturnal singing routines of Common 156	Nightingales Luscinia megarhynchos. Ibis 144: 105-112.  157	 158	

Nocturnal calling by a Pied Flycatcher on arrival in breeding habitat during spring migration

https://pure.southwales.ac.uk/ws/files/3974598/Nocturnal_calling_by_Pied_Flycatcher_on_arrival_from_spring_migration.pdf

Nocturnal calling by a Pied Flycatcher on arrival in breeding habitat during spring migration

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