duet call comparison red-crowned crane Japan - China in Korea DMZ

Abstract

Red-crowned crane unison and guard calls have been recorded in Japan (Hokkaido) and in Korea in DMZ (demilitarized zone, a wintering migration stop-over of Chinese / Russian RC cranes from HeiLong / Amur River region), and quantitatively compared. Result: the call structure is different; experiments showed that cranes from different populations do not "understand" each other (these populations have been separated for many hundred years).

Full text

Short summary: comparison
of Unison call pattern
(Red crowned cranes from
Hokkaido and from Mainland)
Recorded and evaluated by
Dr. Bernhard Wessling
(recorded in Hokkaido and Korea DMZ)

Typical Unison call patterns
Typical Unison call patterns
J
K

Comparison of Japanese and
Comparison of Japanese and
Chinese RC Cranes
Chinese RC Cranes
•length of Unison: J - 22 sec, K - 12 sec
•fem answer calls per male: J - 2.26, K - 2.15 K -
1 to 4 answer calls, J sometimes a short introduction before an
swer tact
•complexity: Jm - 2.21, Jf - 2.57; Km - 1.91, Kf -
2.69 (Jf more frequencies at a time, Kf more variable in form)
•pitch: Jm 1072, Jf 1160; Km 971, Kf 1073
•Unison call pattern, GC pattern different
Japanese and Chinese RC Cranes have a different “language”:

Conclusions
Conclusions
•The Japanese RC population was separated
from the Chinese mainland one sufficiently long
to develop their own call structure (“language”)
•the 2 populations do not “understand” each
other (experiment!)
•social and cultural aspects
•bottleneck in Japan!