Responses of collared doves to playback of coos

Dove coos are assumed to play an important role in territorial defence and mate attraction, Playback experiments of coos may provide insight into their information content. In a pilot experiment, territorial males responded strongly to playback of perch coos. We were able to quantify the response by three behavioural measurements. A second series of playback showed that the experimental set-up and the behavioural measurements were suitable to demonstrate the perception of a difference between two distinctive versions of a perch coo. A stronger response was elicited by coos containing modulated elements.