There is very little information on the diurnal and seasonal patterns of Cuculidae species’ calling activity in subtropical areas. In this study, we used passive acoustic monitoring to investigate the diurnal and seasonal patterns of calling activity of seven Cuculidae species at three sites in eastern China’s forest over a year. Our results showed that these species exhibited significant diurnal variations except for Cuculus micropterus. Eudynamys scolopaceus and Cuculus saturatus increased their vocal activity at dawn and dusk, whereas the other four species peaked their calling activity in the morning. Five species showed significant seasonal variations with a peak in vocal activities earlier in the season (late May or early June) and a gradual decline after that, except for Clamator coromandus, which displayed two peaks in seasonal calling activity. As for Cuculus micropterus, its calling activity was not significantly related to the season. Our study has provided basic knowledge about the calling patterns of seven Cuculidae species, and based on seasonal changes in vocal activity we propose that the breeding season of these species in east China begins in late May and ends in July.

The vocal behaviour of birds can change daily and seasonally. Understanding the daily and seasonal acoustic activity patterns of birds helps to understand their behavioural ecology and is crucial for designing effective monitoring protocols. We studied daily and seasonal acoustic activity patterns for a complete annual cycle of three bird species: Alström's Warbler Phylloscopus soror, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler Horornis fortipes and Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus ruficolli at three different sites in Yaoluoping National Nature Reserve, Anhui Province, East China. All three species displayed a peak in singing activity in the morning; however, they differed in their acoustic activity during the daytime. Alström's Warbler was vocally active for five months (April–August), with higher singing activity earlier in the season. Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler was vocally active for six months (March–August) and showed a significant variation in singing activity over time. Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler was vocally active for nine months (March–November) and displayed a slight variation in singing activity among months at different sites. The acoustic activity of the Alström's Warbler and Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler was negatively correlated with precipitation, whereas in Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler there was no relationship with precipitation. Overall, we found large temporal variation in singing activity within a day and between seasons. To better understand the function of the daily and seasonal pattern of singing, future studies should investigate the functioning of different song types used during daytime and morning.

Acoustic characteristics reflect male quality and play a role in female mate choice. Thus, the frequency of vocalizations and temporal characteristics are often related to body size within and across species. However, it is less clear whether acoustic features can reveal information about individual quality in the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) populations. Here, we investigated the relationship between morphological parameters and acoustic features in male and female free-ranged domestic chickens in Liuzhi, Guizhou, southwest China, and further examined whether acoustic characteristics correlate with internal organs, including the heart, liver, testis, and spleen in male chickens, and whether the cackling call of females indicates body size and mass. We found that both male and female chickens differ significantly in their morphological parameters; however, based on acoustic parameters, they only differ in high frequency. Morphological parameters displayed no relationship with the frequency and duration of calls in both male and female chickens. Furthermore, none of the frequency or temporal parameters of the calls we studied were related to the internal body parameters of males.

For honeybees (Apis mellifera), food richness and experience put significant impacts in making foraging decisions. Bees that trace food-rich source they start establishing spatiotemporal memories, which assist them to revisit particular site on following days. There were two aims of conducting present research. Our first aim was to explore whether or not the different levels of food richness or rewards (10%, 30%, and 50% sugar solution) at a feeding source affect the number of forager bees for their visitation once the conditions are switched to unrewarding. While our second aim was to investigate that how the previous experiences affect bees for their foraging duration. For our first aim, we hypothesized that the switching of condition from high to low level of food richness at experienced feeding site (FA) will result gradual reduction in number of bees on particular food source. Moreover, concerning to our second aim, we predicted that the foraging efficiency of bees will increase with the experiences of the previous visits. Regarding our hypothesis, results show that the bees persist visiting those feeding sites that offer food-rich sources. However, the decrease in food richness consequence gradual decline in number of bees at feeding site, but the most remarkable thing is that they persist visiting their foraging trips for several days even if they are unrewarded with food-rich sources. These results also affirm our prediction that foraging efficiency of bees in term of trip duration will increase with the experiences of previous visits. In conclusion, bees exhibit considerable attachment with experienced feeding site that stop providing food anymore, and foraging duration of bees decreases with the experience.