Hearing in the starling (Sturnus vulgaris): Absolute thresholds and critical ratios

Abstract

Operant conditioning and a psychophysical tracking procedure were used to measure auditory thresholds for pure tones in quiet and in noise for a European starling. The audibility curve for the starling is similar to the auditory sensitivity reported earlier for this species using a heart-rate conditioning procedure. Masked auditory thresholds for the starling were measured at a number of test frequencies throughout the bird’s hearing range. Critical ratios (signal-to-noise ratio at masked threshold) were calculated from these pure tone thresholds. Critical ratios increase throughout the starling’s hearing range at a rate of about 3 dB per octave. This pattern is similar to that observed for most other vertebrates. These results suggest that the starling shares a common mechanism of spectral analysis with many other vertebrates, including the human. © 1986, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.