Using Shannon entropy on measuring the individual variability in the Rufous-bellied thrush Turdus rufiventris vocal communication

We applied the information theory concepts to notes repertoire characteristics combined with temporal parameters of the Rufous-bellied thrush Turdus rufiventris song, using this particular case to test a new method of analysing quantitatively complex animal communication systems. Like most Turdus thrushes, Rufous-bellied thrushes are remarkable for their long, varied and melodious songs. For the analysis of the species repertoire, we used recordings of 44 individuals from 24 localities covering its full geographical range. We measured the repertoire size, note duration and rhythm (frequency of note utterance), and combined these parameters with the Shannon entropy values calculated for each individual. Although individuals maintain species-specific recognition capacity, we find a large variation between their song parameters and show that the information theory can be useful to analyse large and varied animal vocal repertoires. We are introducing two new parameters, temporal average entropy (E-t) and utterance frequency average entropy (E-f), for measuring such communication systems. (C) 2000 Academic Press.