The response of willow grouse chicks to auditory stimuli 2. Synthesized brooding calls attract machine-incubated...

Willow grouse (Lagopus l. lagopus) chicks appear to possess a 'template' of the hen's brooding call. Chicks newly hatched from machine-incubated eggs were therefore exposed to a number of electronically synthesized approximations to brooding calls. These sounds were either paired with a recording of a grouse hen's brooding call, or were played alone. Some of the synthesized calls (repetitive, low-frequency) attracted chicks, while others appeared to be aversive. None of the synthesized calls drew chicks away from the recorded hen call. These results suggest that grouse chicks will approach a wide range of attraction calls which have certain minimum features.