Duplex auditory distance assessment in a small passerine bird (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Abstract.

Eastern towhees, Pipilo erythrophthalmus, (Emberizidae, Passeriformes) in Florida estimate source sound-pressure level (SPL; i.e., sound amplitude) and often misjudge speaker distance in the field when vocalization source SPL is varied experimentally. Sound frequencies below ~3.5 kHz attenuate reliably with distance in comparison with higher sound frequencies in Florida scrub habitat. As a result, I predicted that towhees should use SPL as an auditory distance cue when they hear stimuli produced with sound frequencies below ~3.5 kHz but use another cue when they hear stimuli produced with sound frequencies above ~3.5 kHz. Subjects often misjudged speaker distance when approaching playbacks of SPL-altered stimuli produced with sound frequencies below ~3.5 kHz but rarely misjudged speaker distance when played SPL-altered stimuli produced with sound frequencies above ~3.5 kHz. I discuss the possibility that towhees employ a duplex sound localization strategy.