DOI: 10.5061/dryad.b2rbnzstj
title: Data from: Call rate and types of calls produced vary with flock movements in wild Pine Siskins (<em>Spinus pinus</em>)

description: For social animals, communication and social information can help
 synchronize activities, maintain group cohesion, alert others to
 predators, and improve individual assessments of food availability. We
 tested the hypotheses that the call rate and types of calls produced by
 Pine Siskins (Spinus pinus) may be used to coordinate flock activities.
 Pine Siskins produce a variety of calls, but call function and use in the
 wild are unknown. We studied post-breeding flocks of Pine Siskins feeding
 in discrete patches of native sunflower (Helianthus annuus) between 8
 August and 3 October 2020. We observed and recorded flock vocalizations of
 Pine Siskins engaged in four different behaviors--arrival, baseline
 (foraging in patch), circling, and departure. We took 30-minute audio
 recordings of Pine Siskin foraging flocks (56 recordings total), noting
 the exact time and estimated number of individuals participating in
 arrival, departure, and circling behaviors, and noting the time during
 each observation when we saw a raptor hunting or flying above the foraging
 area. For each recording, we categorized each analyzed minute as baseline
 (N = 980 min), arrival (N = 107 min), circling (N = 18 min), or departure
 (N = 81 min). We noted whether or not an observational minute included the
 presence of a raptor ("Raptor" = yes/no) or occurred within 3
 min of the observation of a raptor ("Raptor_3min" = yes/no).
 Pine Siskin calls were categorized as one of four call types
 ("TBP", "C", "R", or "Z"), though
 "Z" calls were very rare and excluded from analyses. We find
 that call rate was significantly greater during flock movements than
 during periods of baseline feeding. Notably, different behaviors were
 associated with differences in production of specific types of calls.
 Additionally, Pine Siskins were more likely to engage in circling behavior
 and produced more "TBP" and "R" calls in the presence
 of raptor predators. Overall, these results support the hypotheses that
 Pine Siskins use different types of calls and variation in call rate to
 help coordinate group movements and predator responses.
description: # Data from: Call rate and types of calls produced vary with flock
 movements in wild Pine Siskins (*Spinus pinus*) Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.b2rbnzstj](10.5061/dryad.b2rbnzstj) ## Description of the
 data and file structure We recorded 56 audio recordings of Pine Siskin
 flocks foraging in one of two foraging areas at our field site. During
 observations, we noted the time of siskin movements (arrivals to the
 foraging area, circling above the foraging area, or departures from the
 area) and the number of individuals participating in these behaviors. We
 also noted the time we observed a raptor flying above the foraging area.
 We identified siskin calls as one of four types of calls ("TBP,"
 "C," "R," or "Z"). Our unit of analysis was
 a minute. We categorized each analyzed minute as one of four flock
 behaviors: baseline, arrival, circling, or departure. Minute intervals
 that included multiple different movement behaviors (i.e. arrival and
 circling, and arrival and departure) were excluded from analysis because
 we could not attribute call rate to a specific behavior. Minute intervals
 that included circling and departures were categorized as departures. We
 also noted whether each observational minute included the presence of a
 raptor within that same minute ("Raptor" = yes/no) or within 3
 minutes of the observational minute ("Raptor_3min" = yes/no). In
 order to reduce overall audio analysis time and ensure adequate sampling
 of flock activity, we used two approaches to analyze our recordings, with
 half of the recordings randomly assigned to each approach. For 29
 recordings, we fully analyzed the entire recordings. For 27 recordings, we
 used a subsampling procedure as described in the text of the associated
 manuscript. ### Files and variables #### File: Group_Movements.csv
 **Description:** This file includes data about the number of individual
 siskins participating in movements (arrival, circling, or departure).
 ##### Variables * Area: refers to the foraging area. The levels of this
 factor are "Indian Ridge" and "Woodchuck," which refer
 to Areas 1 and 2 in Supplementary Figure 1 (in associated manuscript),
 respectively. * Behavior: refers to the siskin movement behavior. The
 levels of this variable are "arrival," "circling," and
 "departure." * Number_of_siskins: refers to the number of
 siskins observed participating in the movement. * Date: refers to the date
 of the observation in mm/dd/yy format * Time of Day: indicates whether the
 recording was made before or after noon. (Levels = "Morning,"
 "Afternoon") * Recording: is a unique ID for each recording
 session. The first character ("W" or "I") refers to
 the area ("Woodchuck" or "Indian Ridge"), the next
 four characters indicate the date (mmdd), and the last two characters
 refer to the time of day ("AM" or "PM"). #### File:
 Call_Rates_and_Types.csv **Description:** This file includes data about
 the call rate and types of calls produced by siskins during each minute of
 recording, which flock behavior was observed during that minute, and
 whether raptors were observed during that same observational minute or
 within 3 minutes of the observational minute. ##### Variables *
 Recording: is a unique ID for each recording session. The first character
 ("W" or "I") refers to the area ("Woodchuck"
 or "Indian Ridge"), the next four characters indicate the date
 (mmdd), and the last two characters refer to the time of day
 ("AM" or "PM"). * Minute: indicates the number of
 minutes from the start of the recording. (E.g. Calls produced when Minute
 = 0 are calls produced any time between the start of the recording and 59
 seconds after the start of the recording.) * Call_Type: refers to one of
 four types of calls. Levels = TBP, C, R, or Z. Z calls were very rare and
 excluded from analyses that refer to specific types of calls. *
 calls_per_minute: indicates the number of calls produced during an
 observational minute * Area: refers to the foraging area. The levels of
 this factor are "Indian Ridge" and "Woodchuck," which
 refer to Areas 1 and 2 in Supplementary Figure 1 (in associated
 manuscript), respectively. * date: refers to the date of the observation
 in mm/dd/yy format * Julian_Day: is the number of days since the start of
 the year * Behavior: refers to the siskin behavior during the
 observational minute. The levels of this variable are
 "baseline," "arrival," "circling," and
 "departure." * TimeOfDay: indicates whether the recording was
 made before or after noon. (Levels = "Morning,"
 "Afternoon") * Raptors: indicates whether a raptor was observed
 during the same observational minute. Levels of this variable are
 "y" (yes, a raptor was observed) and "n" (no, a raptor
 was not observed). * Raptors_3min: indicates whether a raptor was observed
 within 3 min of the observational minute. Levels of this variable are
 "y" (yes, a raptor was observed) and "n" (no, a raptor
 was not observed). * Full_or_Sub: indicates whether the analyzed minutes
 come from a recording that was analyzed in its entirety ("Full")
 or from a recording that was subsampled ("Sub").