Repertoire-behavior mapping reveals signal functions in cooperatively breeding crows

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Abstract
Communication structures society, and is likewise shaped by relationships and shared tasks; yet, for most socially complex species, we know little of their full vocal repertoire and its functions. We investigated how communication structures the who, what, and when of social interactions in cooperative carrion crows – group-living birds who rely on coordinated behaviors, as in chick care. Leveraging machine learning to integrate large-scale data from crow-borne audio-loggers and nest cameras, we charted the vocal repertoire across 24 cooperative groups and mapped all discovered call types to behaviors and social context. We found that crows used a rich repertoire across three domains of joint behavior – flocking, chick care, and territorial display. Relatively quiet call types were abundant and included close-range calls that may coordinate chick care by announcing nest visits. Our study demonstrates how combining continuous-capture data and machine learning can reveal a holistic understanding of how vocalizations function across contexts.
Funding Information
  • Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
  • Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y Agéncia Estatal de Investigación (Project PID2024-159215NB-100, Plan Nacional de I+D+i)
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/S018484/1)
  • Xunta de Galicia (ED431B 2024/23)
  • National Geographic Society

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