Sound attenuation in the ear of domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) as a result of beak opening
- Author
- Pieter Muyshondt, Raf Claes, Peter Aerts (UGent) and Joris Dirckx
- Organization
- Abstract
- Because the quadrate and the eardrum are connected, the hypothesis was tested that birds attenuate the transmission of sound through their ears by opening the bill, which potentially serves as an additional protective mechanism for self-generated vocalizations. In domestic chickens, it was examined if a difference exists between hens and roosters, given the difference in vocalization capacity between the sexes. To test the hypothesis, vibrations of the columellar footplate were measured ex vivo with laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) for closed and maximally opened beak conditions, with sounds introduced at the ear canal. The average attenuation was 3.5 dB in roosters and only 0.5 dB in hens. To demonstrate the importance of a putative protective mechanism, audio recordings were performed of a crowing rooster. Sound pressures levels of 133.5 dB were recorded near the ears. The frequency content of the vocalizations was in accordance with the range of highest hearing sensitivity in chickens. The results indicate a small but significant difference in sound attenuation between hens and roosters. However, the amount of attenuation as measured in the experiments on both hens and roosters is small and will provide little effective protection in addition to other mechanisms such as stapedius muscle activity.
- Keywords
- :avian ear, middle ear vibrations, laser Doppler vibrometry, bird vocalizations, audio recordings, PATULOUS EUSTACHIAN-TUBE, SINGLE-OSSICLE EAR, MIDDLE-EAR, STAPEDIUS MUSCLE, DIRECTIONAL HEARING, EXTRA-STAPEDIUS, ZEBRA FINCH, PRESSURE, MOVEMENTS, SONG
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8553862
- MLA
- Muyshondt, Pieter, et al. “Sound Attenuation in the Ear of Domestic Chickens (Gallus Gallus Domesticus) as a Result of Beak Opening.” ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, vol. 4, no. 11, 2017, doi:10.1098/rsos.171286.
- APA
- Muyshondt, P., Claes, R., Aerts, P., & Dirckx, J. (2017). Sound attenuation in the ear of domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) as a result of beak opening. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, 4(11). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171286
- Chicago author-date
- Muyshondt, Pieter, Raf Claes, Peter Aerts, and Joris Dirckx. 2017. “Sound Attenuation in the Ear of Domestic Chickens (Gallus Gallus Domesticus) as a Result of Beak Opening.” ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 4 (11). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171286.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Muyshondt, Pieter, Raf Claes, Peter Aerts, and Joris Dirckx. 2017. “Sound Attenuation in the Ear of Domestic Chickens (Gallus Gallus Domesticus) as a Result of Beak Opening.” ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 4 (11). doi:10.1098/rsos.171286.
- Vancouver
- 1.Muyshondt P, Claes R, Aerts P, Dirckx J. Sound attenuation in the ear of domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) as a result of beak opening. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE. 2017;4(11).
- IEEE
- [1]P. Muyshondt, R. Claes, P. Aerts, and J. Dirckx, “Sound attenuation in the ear of domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) as a result of beak opening,” ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, vol. 4, no. 11, 2017.
@article{8553862, abstract = {{Because the quadrate and the eardrum are connected, the hypothesis was tested that birds attenuate the transmission of sound through their ears by opening the bill, which potentially serves as an additional protective mechanism for self-generated vocalizations. In domestic chickens, it was examined if a difference exists between hens and roosters, given the difference in vocalization capacity between the sexes. To test the hypothesis, vibrations of the columellar footplate were measured ex vivo with laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) for closed and maximally opened beak conditions, with sounds introduced at the ear canal. The average attenuation was 3.5 dB in roosters and only 0.5 dB in hens. To demonstrate the importance of a putative protective mechanism, audio recordings were performed of a crowing rooster. Sound pressures levels of 133.5 dB were recorded near the ears. The frequency content of the vocalizations was in accordance with the range of highest hearing sensitivity in chickens. The results indicate a small but significant difference in sound attenuation between hens and roosters. However, the amount of attenuation as measured in the experiments on both hens and roosters is small and will provide little effective protection in addition to other mechanisms such as stapedius muscle activity.}}, articleno = {{171286}}, author = {{Muyshondt, Pieter and Claes, Raf and Aerts, Peter and Dirckx, Joris}}, issn = {{2054-5703}}, journal = {{ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE}}, keywords = {{:avian ear,middle ear vibrations,laser Doppler vibrometry,bird vocalizations,audio recordings,PATULOUS EUSTACHIAN-TUBE,SINGLE-OSSICLE EAR,MIDDLE-EAR,STAPEDIUS MUSCLE,DIRECTIONAL HEARING,EXTRA-STAPEDIUS,ZEBRA FINCH,PRESSURE,MOVEMENTS,SONG}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{11}}, pages = {{13}}, title = {{Sound attenuation in the ear of domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) as a result of beak opening}}, url = {{http://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171286}}, volume = {{4}}, year = {{2017}}, }
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