The effect of social structure on vocal flexibility in monk parakeets

Abstract

The social complexity hypothesis argues that communicative complexity arises as a result of social complexity, with this occurring through mechanisms including plasticity and selection. Most research to date has focused on ultimate drivers of repertoire size, for example finding that cooperative breeding species exhibit larger repertoires. Until this date, to our knowledge, no study has focused on individual-level drivers of vocal diversity. Here, we examine social networks and vocalizations in wild colonial-nesting monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). We recorded social networks for 337 individuals, relatedness for 100 individuals and matched these with 5599 vocalizations from 229 individuals over 2 years. Overall, we found that all individuals exhibited high contact-call diversity; however, individual-level diversity increased with age in 2020 and with number of nest mates in 2021. Call similarity was not predicted by relatedness, but individuals with stronger affiliative bonds had more dissimilar calls, suggesting an active process to sound unique among close associates. Finally, females had more diverse repertoires, producing relatively fewer contact calls across years and individuals living in larger groups had more diverse repertoires in 2021. Our results demonstrate a multi-faceted social influence on call content, diversity and repertoire diversity, exhibiting how fine-scale variation in social structure can influence expressed vocal complexity.