Abstract:

In a study of acoustic communication at seven nest cavities of Eurasian Wrynecks, sound recordings were made of ninety-one separate bursts of tapping. From Hungary in the east, and France in the west, tapping was heard both from inside cavities and at their entrances. Analysis of the tapping rhythms indicated two forms corresponding to different observed behaviour. They were never loud and were used exclusively in communication between breeding pairs. No functional significance was found in the only two brief examples of tapping fast enough to be described structurally as drumming.