Recovery of cirl bunting, Emberiza cirlus, song diversity after translocation

• Published in: Conservation science and practice Vol. 6; no. 1
• Main Authors: Collins, Sarah A., Croft, Stuart, Jeffs, Cath, Brown, Sophie, Kort, Selvino R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.01.2024; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: abnormal song; Adults; Birds; Communication; conservation reintroduction; Dialects; Emberiza cirlus; isolated population; Juveniles; Learning; Nests; Playback; Population growth; Populations; Reintroduction; Song; song learning; song repertoire; songbirds; Success; Translocation; Vocalization behavior; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 2578-4854; 2578-4854
• DOI: 10.1111/csp2.13060

In order to improve conservation outcomes translocation or reintroduction of individuals may be necessary. When song learning birds are translocated, changes in the cultural diversity of song repertoires, or abnormal vocalizations, in the new population can be a problem. We monitored song production over 8 years in a reintroduced population of the cirl bunting (Emberiza cirlus). Chicks were removed from nests in Devon, UK, between 2006 and 2011, translocated at 6 days old to be hand‐reared and released in Cornwall, UK. Recordings at the release site in 2011 showed a significantly reduced population repertoire and individuals sang abnormal song types compared to the source populations in Devon. However, recordings in 2019, showed population song repertoire had reached the level of source populations of similar size, and song types were species typical. Our study shows that species can recover from a cultural bottleneck and suggests that, for some song learning birds, if translocation of nestlings is necessary it may not lead to long‐term problems for communication and thus population persistence. For future translocations of nestlings, we recommend that efforts are made to provide tutoring to enable song learning. This may be achieved by providing recordings, but may also include providing adult song tutors. In addition, playback of “normal” songs to translocated populations may aid in development of species typical song repertoires, although care must be taken that this is not disturbing the reintroduced birds. (a) Locations of cirl bunting populations sound recorded for this study, points reflect the center of the location. Location 1 is the reintroduced population in Cornwall. Locations 4 and 5 are near each other but are separated by water. Inset photo shows a cirl bunting (Ben Andrew rspb-images.com). (b) The relationship between the number of males recorded and the number of different song types in the population (location of population on map in label brackets). Confidence interval and fit line displayed. ▲ Source, ◯ Reintroduced 2011, * Reintroduced 2019.