The displays and call notes of cardinals

Abstract

This paper presents descriptions of the calls and visual displays of the cardinal, Richmondena cardinalis, and suggests some motivational factors behind the displays. Of the several calls, some occur in highly specific situations as exemplified by the piping call of the male during courtship feeding. Others occur in more than one context, an example being the chitter call used in intense situations of agonism or alarm. In agonistic encounters, several calls of similar structure occur together.Among the displays the most interesting are those used in courtship, namely, song-flight, song-dance, lopsided, and courtship-feeding displays. All of them share components with non-display actions, but the motivations behind them appear to be complex.The displays of the cardinal are similar in some cases to those of other richmondenine finches and to those of birds in the related subfamilies Emberizinae and Carduelinae.