Humans Discriminate Individual Large-Billed Crows by their Calls

Abstract

Previous research has shown that humans can discriminate two individual rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), as well as two individual zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) by their vocalizations. The discrimination of individual zebra finches largely relies on differences in pitch contour, although this is not the only relevant cue. The purpose of the present experiment was to examine whether humans can also discriminate two individual large-billed crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) by their calls. Discrimination was tested with a forced-choice Same-Different Paradigm. Results show a high discrimination accuracy without prior training, although the scores obtained here were lower than those in the zebra finch discrimination task. There was no significant learning trend across trials. Future studies should investigate which acoustic cues participants use for the discrimination of individual crows and expand these findings with more non-human animal vocalizations.