DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0prb
title: Data from: Decoding parrot duets: Complex communication in yellow-naped amazons

description: Parrots represent an excellent model in which to study complex vocal
 communication because they meet the prerequisites of the social complexity
 hypothesis and, like humans, have lifelong vocal learning. Despite that,
 the difficulty in acquiring good field data on wild parrot vocalizations
 has limited such research. Here, we examine the warble duets of the
 yellow-naped amazon, a critically endangered species, which are used by
 mated pairs when defending territories. We found that these duets are
 marked by a large lexicon of 36 call types, with additional variants. The
 calls also assort non-randomly within the duets and are organized by
 syntactic rules. In addition, 58% of call types were sex specific, while
 the remaining call types were used by both sexes and thus appeared to be
 sex-neutral. Overall, the duets were marked by great variability; despite
 being structured by syntactic rules, we observed very little overt
 repetition in entire duets. This research provides important evidence that
 large repertoires and complex vocal communication are an important part of
 the natural communication systems of wild parrots.
description: # Data from: Decoding parrot duets: Complex communication in yellow-naped
 amazons Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0prb](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0prb) ##
 Description of the data and file structure The data
 (Supplement_Data_DRYAD.xlsx) consist of raw measurements made on all
 warble duets, made using the program Raven.  NA- Data that could not be
 measured for various reasons, including too much overlap from other calls,
 background noise, or otherwise low quality and/or poor signal-to-noise
 ratio. * Duet Name- Individual file name for each duet - Pair- Initials
 corresponding to each mated pair of yellow-naped amazons * Note #-Position
 of the note within the duet sequence * Call type: Label assigned to the
 vocalization type - Sex- Whether the note was given by a male bird, a
 female bird, or if it was unknown * Total Call Duration(s)**-** utilizing
 the box function in Raven to find the length of a whole call from start to
 finish. - Minimum Frequency of dominant band (hz)**-** detecting the
 lowest frequency at a specific point in the dominant band using the cursor
 function. * Maximum Frequency (hz) of dominant band- detecting the
 greatest frequency at a specific point in the dominant band using the
 cursor function. - Response Time(s)**-** utilizing the box function in
 Raven to measure the time from the beginning of one call to the beginning
 of the previous. * Aggregate Entropy (bits)**-** utilizing the box
 function in Raven to measure the overall disorder in a selected call. The
 higher the measurement, the greaterthe warble in the call; the lower the
 measurement, the more tonal the call. Highlight the dominant band only. -
 Delta Frequency (hz) of dominant band- Automatic value, difference between
 max and min frequency of dominant band. * Yellow-naped amazon calls can
 consist of different segments, which may be more heavily frequency
 modulated, which we considered to be noisy, or more tonal (Wright and
 Dahlin 2007). We scored the calls based on the number and properties of
 these segments to better differentiate between call types.  - Number of
 Noisy Segments: Using the aforementioned entropy values to discuss the
 physical characteristics of a call by determining how many segments in the
 call are considered noisy. * Number of Tonal Segments: Using the
 aforementioned entropy values to discuss the physical characteristics of a
 call by determining how many segments in the call are considered tonal.