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Journal of Experimental Biology 129,365-371 (1987)
Published by Company of Biologists 1987

Hearing and Echolocation in the Australian Grey Swiftlet, Collocalia Spodiopygia

ROGER B. COLES ¹, MASAKAZU KONISHI ², and JOHN D. PETTIGREW ³

¹ Zoologisches Institut, Universität München, Luisenstrasse 14, 8 München 2, West Germany
² Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
³ Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia

The frequency sensitivity of hearing in the grey swiftlet, Collocalia spodiopygia, was determined by neuronal recordings from the auditory midbrain (MLD). The most sensitive best frequency response thresholds occurred between 0.8 and 4.7 kHz, with the upper frequency limit near 6 kHz. Spectral analysis of echolocation click pairs revealed energy peaks between 3.0 and 8.0kHz for the foreclick, compared to 4.0-6.0 kHz for the principal click. The relationship between good hearing sensitivity and click energy peaks in the swiftlet extends about an octave higher than it does in the oilbird (Steatornis caripensis).

Key words: swiftlet, hearing, echolocation click, midbrain

Accepted on February 3, 1987