Courting Bird Sings with Stridulating Wing Feathers

@article{Bostwick2005CourtingBS,
  title={Courting Bird Sings with Stridulating Wing Feathers},
  author={Kimberly S. Bostwick and Richard O. Prum},
  journal={Science},
  year={2005},
  volume={309},
  pages={736 - 736}
}
In birds and other vertebrates, most acoustic signals are produced pneumatically by moving air through a vocal apparatus. Here we describe a unique mechanism used to produce a tonal acoustic signal in vertebrates. Video recordings of the courtship displays of male Club-winged Manakins, Machaeropterus deliciosus, reveal that males produce sustained harmonic tones through interactions among oscillating secondary wing feathers. This mechanism of sound production shows morphological and mechanistic… 
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