Using modern remote sensing technology, such as microphone transmitters (TerMaat et al. 1972 Mann, Dingess & Slater 2006) or even impossible (Elie et al. For example, when studying highly synchronised vocal interactions in social contexts, like in duetting birds, the role of individuals has been very difficult (Thorpe et al. Before this, it was challenging to record and assign vocalisations of focal animals that were behaving freely inside their natural habitats, or in the presence of multiple sound sources, such as vocalising conspecifics or other background noises (Otter, Chruszcz & Ratcliffe 1997 Brumm 2004 Furrer & Manser 2009 Clemmons & Howitz 2010 Bousquet, Sumpter & Manser 2011). 2015), opening up new fields of communication research. A growing body of studies has recently come to use animal-borne devices on species ranging from whales (Johnson, Aguilar de Soto & Madsen 2009) to chipmunks (Couchoux et al. By minimising the effects on the animals, the behaviour under study, and ultimately on the research question, this approach will revolutionise the ability to capture individual-level vocalisations in a variety of communication contexts, opening up many new opportunities to address novel research questions.ĭue to technological limitations in obtaining good quality vocalisation recordings from individual animals, many open questions remain about animal vocal communication, especially in naturalistic settings. This method provides the tools to integrate individual vocal communications into a group setting, while enabling animals to behave freely in undisturbed, structured and acoustically complex environments.16 days) that outlasted habituation effects (ca. We found effects of initial backpack attachment and of battery replacement on vocal and locomotor activity, but they were minimised through the extended recording duration (ca. We acquired continuous vocalisation recordings of zebra finches, and unequivocally assigned them to interacting individuals, with system-based synchrony, irrespective of background noise.We compared our approach to existing studies and identified suitable research examples. We evaluated the effect of the devices at various levels, including an assessment of how vocal and locomotor activities were affected by initial device attachment and battery exchange. Using lightweight wireless microphone backpacks (0♷5 g including customised leg-loop harness) combined with multi-channel recording equipment, we captured vocal behaviour of small songbirds.Here, we aim to initiate a discussion about the limitations, possible applications and the broader potential of such methods. A growing number of studies used animal-attached microphones to tackle these issues, but the implications for the study species and the research question often receded into the background. Thirdly, vocal behaviour should be recorded from undisturbed animals in meaningful settings. Secondly, the precise timing of vocal events needs to be retained.
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