Mechanical Sounds that occur during the Aerial Display of the Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus)
Abstract
The Red-tailed Comet (Sappho sparganurus) is related to Lesbia and Ramphomicron, which produce ‘sonations’ (mechanical sounds with communicative function). Here I describe the display with sonations of the Red-tailed Comet observed in Argentina and Bolivia. This display, performed by males, was ‘pan-shaped’ and consisted of a ca. 25 m long straight, slow, suspended flight, some 20 m above the ground, with the tail held stiff, followed by a high-speed, nearly vertical dive towards a shrub (possibly comprised of two species) until reaching 2 m from the ground. Towards the bottom of the dive an impulsive, and dry, double ‘tec...tec’ or single ‘tec’ mechanical sound was given before ascending at a high angle up to the height from which it dove, making a U turn in the horizontal plane, to repeat the same display 3-4 times with an identical orientation. The display occurred sporadically, seemingly only during the breeding season (August to March). Based on what is known of the Black-tailed Trainbearer (L. victoriae), I speculate that the sound is produced by an intra-wing mechanism. The aerial display of Sappho includes vocal song-like sounds and well-spaced sonations, whilst those of Lesbia include only sonations consisting of trains of notes in the Green-tailed Trainbearer (L. nuna) or trains of couplets in the Black-tailed Trainbearer.
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