Initial observation of human-bird vocal interactions in a zoological setting

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1 Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
2 Institute for Conservation Research - San Diego Zoo, Escondido, CA, USA
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.27927v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Animal Behavior, Zoology
Keywords
vocal interactions, bird behavior, zoo, visitor-animal interactions
Copyright
© 2019 Kleinberger et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Kleinberger R, Baker J, Miller G. 2019. Initial observation of human-bird vocal interactions in a zoological setting. PeerJ Preprints 7:e27927v1

Abstract

Vocal interactions between humans and non-human animals are pervasive, but studies are often limited to communication within species. Here, we conducted a pilot exploration of vocal interactions between visitors to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and Sampson, an 18-year-old male Hyacinth Macaw residing near the entrance. Over the course of one hour, 82 vocal and behavioral events were recorded, and various relationships between human and bird behavior were noted. Analyses of this type, applied to large datasets with assistance from artificial intelligence, could be used to better understand the impacts, positive or negative, of human visitors on animals in managed care.

Author Comment

This is intended for the second international workshop on Vocal Interactivity in-and-between Humans, Animals and Robots (VIHAR 2019) collection