Individual-level discrimination in song characteristics of white-rumped shama, Copsychus malabaricus

Passerines exhibit considerable variations in song characteristics, with crucial ecological, behavioural and conservation implications. We documented the individual variations and level of distinctness in the song characteristics of white-rumped shama, Copsychus malabaricus. Bioacoustic analysis revealed that songs were composed of repeated strophes (2-5 types per individual) with occasional whistles/trills or orphan syllables, made up of 3-13 elements, with dissimilar structures. Data analysis using 373 strophes from 22 males showed that all 8 variables (minimum, maximum, dominant and range of frequency, strophe duration, song rate, number of elements per strophe and type of element per strophe) differed significantly (P < 0.001). Song variations were higher among individuals compared to within individuals. The principal component analysis explained 56.87% variance. Discriminant function analysis exhibited 69.41% cumulative variance with 40.37% classification accuracy. The present study may be useful for further research on some other attributes of a song such as repertoire size, microstructure and seasonal/diurnal variations.