Asking the pikas politely…
North American Pine Grosbeaks (Pinicola enucleator) vary geographically in two of their call notes. Variation is greatest in the location calls that communicate between individuals at great distances. Birds of the taiga and coastal Alaska give whistled calls, of which four categories have been identified. Western montane and Queen Charlotte Islands birds give more complex, modulated calls, which vary greatly among localities. Taiga and montane birds do not approach playback of each other's calls, though wild birds usually respond quickly to playback of their own calls. Cross-fostering experiments show that the location call can be entirely learned in the first weeks of life, suggesting that the observed variation in nature arose in association with isolation of small, possibly founder, populations. No selective agent leading to call variation has been identified, but vegetation structure is discounted as a factor.
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