Visual Evidence of Vocal Avian Mimicry by Male Tooth-Billed Bowerbirds Scenopoeetes dentirostris (Ptilonorhynchidae)

Abstract

Visual evidence of avian vocal mimicry by three male Tooth-billed Bowerbirds Scenopoeetes dentirostris of vocalisations typical of four passerine birds sympatric with them is presented as sonagrams. These represent the first unequivocal graphic evidence of such mimicry by this, or any other, bowerbird together with that of the model species. Other species of bowerbirds recorded performing avian vocal mimicry and its possible significance are reviewed and discussed.