Singing in the Rain
Posted at 12:15 pm January 2, 2007 by Matt Anderson
Despite San Diego’s recent inclement weather, the rain showers and strong winds have not stopped me from recording the conversations made over the holidays by our family of Gabriella’s crested gibbons at the Wild Animal Park. Our ongoing gibbon research project (see a previous blog, Cheetah Chirps and Gibbon Duets) has involved watching and recording gibbon behavior. Most fascinating are the calls or songs that each member of the family makes.
The majority of singing is done by the adult male and female, or the “Mom and Pop” of the family. Most mornings begin with the male starting his own song, which inevitably leads to the adult female joining him in a duet. These love songs are fascinating: they appear to have a role in defining territory while also helping to strengthen the bond between these monogamous gibbons. We’ve also been seeing more involvement in the singing from the younger offspring, with the youngest getting more and more into copying Mom’s song. However, there is definitely a steep learning curve and most of the singing recorded so far is not for the faint hearted: don’t expect to see the younger gibbons on American Idol anytime soon!
The change in the weather has brought about some changes in the gibbons’ normal routine, though. With the rain came a certain amount of sleeping in (unfortunately not including me, stuck on several mornings wishing I could join them in their warm den inside!). With this came later dueting too and, not unlike our own families, the kids were even later to rise. On some mornings the youngsters didn’t show any signs of stirring; even when they managed to come outside they were in no mood to take any singing lessons.
Overall we’ve learned a lot from the recent bad weather. We now know that the duets we normally hear on most warm mornings in San Diego continue to be sung even when the temperature dips. The main differences are that the songs occur later and also that the adult male has to sing on his own for longer than usual before his mate will join in. Even then the duet is still a little shorter than we’re used to hearing. Listen here:
[audio:http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/rain_duet.mp3]
This said, hearing them continuing their love songs despite the rain really does re-affirm our belief that the duets do play a major role in the life of romantically inclined gibbons.
Dr. Matt Anderson is a scientist in the Behavioral Biology Division of CRES.
Here’s a profile on our gibbon family.
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January 2nd, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Thanks Matt. Very interesting ” love song.” It is fascinating to hear about the different forms of communication between different monkey species. i.e Siamangs, gibbons, etc. I look forward to reading more about your study as the seasons progress throughout the year.
January 3rd, 2007 at 9:04 am
I think the gibbons sing better than some of the contestants who try out for American Idol. lol
It is fascinating to read about the efforts to understand communication among various species.
March 1st, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I saw the Gabriella’s crested gibbons for the first time ever yesterday and was enchanted by the female’s beauty. She was holding her golden baby. Looked just like the photo in the earlier blog. How delighted I was to find both blogs and actually hear their duet. I will be sure to stop by each time I visit the WAP.