ANDRZEJ KRAUZE
Out in the field one day observing Australian magpie-larks (Grallina cyanoleuca), bioacoustics researcher Pawel Rek heard the telltale trilling of the birds’ territorial defense duet. Magpie-lark pairs, like those of many bird species, sing coordinated duets to warn potential rivals to keep off their turf. But Rek could only spot the male of the pair. “I was really confused when I found that the female was actually sitting on the nest, on the nearby tree, and that it was only the male singing his and the female’s part,” he writes in an email.
The observation raised questions. Were rival magpie-larks actually fooled by such deceptive duets? If so, why bother with real ones? Intrigued by the fact that the male magpie-lark seemed to be hiding ...
