DOI: 10.5061/dryad.s1rn8pkm3
title: Data from: Non-breeding European robins adjust their songs in noisy environments

description: Noise pollution is a global threat to biodiversity, significantly
 affecting acoustic communication in birds and other taxa. While European
 robins (Erithacus rubecula) adjust their songs in response to urban noise
 during the breeding season, little is known about song adjustments during
 the non-breeding season, when song plays a crucial role in survival by
 helping secure winter territories with adequate resources and shelter. To
 better understand the effect of noise on avian communication, we
 investigate whether robins modify their non-breeding song in noisy
 environments. We analysed the autumn songs of 25 robins exposed to varying
 background noise levels and found that robins increase the minimum
 frequency of their songs and extend phrase duration by singing fewer but
 longer syllables per phrase in noisy environments—adjustments that may
 mitigate acoustic masking. Our results provide valuable insights into the
 broader impact of urbanisation on bird communication and highlight the
 need to consider non-breeding vocal behaviour in conservation efforts.
 These findings underscore the year-round impact of noise pollution on
 birdsong, suggesting it affects various aspects of avian life history.
 However, it remains unclear whether these adjustments have evolutionary
 consequences for survival, as changes in key song parameters may affect
 how rivals interpret signals. Therefore, future studies should explore how
 vocal plasticity influences winter territory quality, predation rates, and
 individual survival.
description: # Dryad dataset Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.s1rn8pkm3](10.5061/dryad.s1rn8pkm3) ## Description of the
 data and file structure To compile this dataset, we recorded 25 European
 robin (*Erithacus rubecula*) songs across six sites in the autumn of 2022
 to explore whether noise pollution affected their non-breeding songs.
 After the focal robin stopped singing, we determined average background
 noise amplitude by taking a mean across four minutes. Hereafter, we scored
 the sound files in Raven Pro and extracted seven structural and
 frequency-based parameters. All data used in the analysis for the
 publication entitled "Non-breeding European robins adjust their songs
 in noisy environments" can be performed using this dataset. ### Files
 and variables The dataset entitled "Robin Song Data.csv"
 consists of 13 columns containing all data used in the statistical
 analysis of the paper "Non-breeding European robins adjust their
 songs in noisy environments". Below is an outline of all variables
 reported: * Location: The site which the song was recorded. * HourTime:
 The time which the song was recorded (rounded to the nearest hour time). *
 dB level: The average background noise amplitude taken at the position
 where the song was recorded, in decibels * dbmean: Mean-centred background
 noise amplitude calculated by subtracting the mean dB level across all
 datapoints from each individual measurement. This was used for more
 interpretable model intercepts. * Recording Duration (s): Total length of
 the song recording, in seconds. * Total Phrases: The total number of song
 phrases in a recording. * Minimum Frequency (Hz): The lowest frequency
 across all syllables in a single phrases, averaged across all phrases
 within a recording, in Hertz. * Maximum Frequency (Hz): The highest
 frequency across all syllables in a single phrases, averaged across all
 phrases within a recording, in Hertz. * Bandwidth (Hz): The difference
 between the minimum and maximum song frequencies, in Hertz. * Syllables
 per Phrase: The mean number of syllables per phrase across a recording. *
 Syllable Duration (s): The mean duration of syllables across a recording,
 in seconds. * Phrase Rate (per minute): The total number of phrases sung
 in a recording divided by the duration from the onset of the first phrase
 to end of the last phrase. * Phrase Duration (s): The mean duration of
 phrases across a recording, in seconds. ## Code/software The data can be
 viewed in any standard spreadsheet software.