A comparison of gargle calls of Black-capped Chickadees recorded in the laboratory and in the field

We compared recordings of the 'gargle' vocalization of Black-capped Chickad ees (Poecile atricapillus) made in the field to recordings made in the labo ratory of captive birds from the same populations. Individuals have reperto ires of gargle calls, some of which are shared with conspecifics. Thus, a p opulation sample of recordings reveals a variety of distinct gargle calls c onstituting the population repertoire. Captive birds were individually stim ulated to vocalize by viewing their own image in a mirror. In the field, ga rgle calls were recorded during natural social interactions. We questioned whether the field recordings might reveal a greater variety of gargle calls than we found in the laboratory samples. We found that none of 901 field r ecorded gargle calls differed from those recorded from captive birds.