Song type variations of Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) and their geographic distributions

摘要: Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) is a familiar singer in the Western Hemisphere family Parulidae, yet apparent geographic variations its song and potentially related causal mechanisms have not received detailed examination previously published studies. Here, we analyzed pattern of 651 singers audio spectrogram recordings obtained from our field work publicly accessible bioacoustics archives. Visual auditory assessment introductory note sequence each identified three distinct types (A, B, C) 88.3% songs were assigned to one these types. Linear Discriminant Analysis Random Forest methods used verify assignments showed strong agreement (>90%) for Type A with slightly less on Types B C. User error rates (proportion classifications that incorrect) 25% C, but <5% B. Our findings confirmed subset 87 individuals most between-individual variation was number notes duration while within-individual resulted percent downstrokes. The location plotted map breeding range results indicated large-scale discrete distributions co-occur some regions range-wide. Evaluation provided tentative support hypothesis two may independently exhibit congruence extent Pleistocene glacial boundaries third type be distinguished by lack congruence, further investigation needed elucidate whether represent subpopulations separate evolutionary histories.