Sonation
Encyclopedia
Syrinx (biology)
Syrinx is the name for the vocal organ of birds. Located at the base of a bird's trachea, it produces sounds without the vocal cords of mammals. The sound is produced by vibrations of some or all of the membrana tympaniformis and the pessulus caused by air flowing through the syrinx...
. The term sonate is described as the deliberate production of sounds, not from the throat, but rather from structures such as the bill, wings, tail, feet and body feathers, or by the use of tools.
Examples are the whistle produced by the tail-feathers of the Anna's hummingbird Calypte anna, the drumming
Drumming (snipe)
Drumming is a sound produced by snipe as part of their courtship display flights. The sound is produced mechanically by the vibration of the modified outer tail feathers, held out at a wide angle to the body, in the slipstream of a power dive. The display is usually crepuscular, or given...
of the tail-feathers of the African Snipe
African Snipe
The African Snipe, Gallinago nigripennis, also known as the Ethiopian Snipe, is a small stocky wader. It breeds in eastern and southern Africa in wet mountain moorland and swamps at altitudes of 1700 - 4000m. When not breeding it disperses widely, including into coastal lowlands.-Description:This...
and Common Snipe
Common Snipe
The Common Snipe is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. The breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout northern Europe and northern Asia...
, bill-clattering by storks or the deliberate territorial tapping practised by woodpeckers and certain members of the parrot family, such as Palm Cockatoo
Palm Cockatoo
The Palm Cockatoo , also known as the Goliath Cockatoo, is a large smoky-grey or black parrot of the cockatoo family. It is the only member in subfamily Microglossinae and the only member of the monotypic genus, Probosciger...
s which drum on hollow trees using broken-off sticks. The Clapper Lark's (Mirafra apiata) display flight includes a steep climb with wing rattling.
Barn Owl
Barn Owl
The Barn Owl is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds. It is also referred to as Common Barn Owl, to distinguish it from other species in the barn-owl family Tytonidae. These form one of two main lineages of living owls, the other being the typical...
s produce a clicking snap to show annoyance or fear. Bustards, Floricans and Korhaans of the Otididae include foot-stamping in their mating displays. Studies have revealed at least four sonations employed by two manakin genera Manacus
Manacus
Manacus is a genus of passerine birds in the manakin family which are found in the forests of tropical mainland Central and South America, and on Trinidad and Tobago...
and Pipra
Pipra
Pipra is a genus of bird in the Pipridae family. It contains the following species:* Crimson-hooded Manakin, Pipra aureola* Round-tailed Manakin, Pipra chloromeros* Scarlet-horned Manakin, Pipra cornuta...
- wing-against-wing claps carried out above the back, wing-against-body claps, wing-into-air flicks and wing-against-tail feathers.
Video footage of male Club-winged Manakins, Machaeropterus deliciosus, shows them producing sustained harmonics derived from vibrating secondary wing feathers. This mechanism is the avian equivalent of arthropod stridulation
Stridulation
Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fishes, snakes and spiders...
.
Adult male Red-billed Streamertail hummingbirds (Trochilus polytmus) have long tail streamers, but these do not produce their distinctive whirring flight sound. Evidence points to the wings instead - the whirring is synchronised with the wingbeats and video footage shows primary feather eight (P8) bending with each downstroke, creating a gap that produces the fluttering sound.