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Data from: Passive-acoustic evidence of lunar, temporal, and weather effects on the vocal activity of four coexisting forest owl species in southern Taiwan

Wu, Shih-Hung1; Ko, Jerome Chie-Jen2; Tsai, Wen-Ling3

Research facility: Yushan National Park
Published Apr 22, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.hmgqnk9zv

Data files

Apr 22, 2026 version files 3.12 MB

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Abstract

Lunar illumination and environmental conditions are known to shape vocal behavior of nocturnal birds, but few studies have simultaneously compared responses across multiple owl species. Using a full-year Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) dataset from Yushan National Park, Taiwan, we investigated how four sympatric Strigidae species—Mountain Scops-Owl Otus spilocephalus, Collared Owlet Taenioptynx brodiei, Collared Scops-Owl O. lettia, and Northern Boobook Ninox japonica—responded to variation in lunar phase, lunar altitude, temporal factors, and weather. We analyzed 1,946 hours of nighttime audio using an AI-based sound recognition model (SILIC ver. exp32), yielding over 700,000 vocalizations. Generalized Additive Models revealed species-specific responses to lunar variables: while Collared Owlet and Northern Boobook increased vocal activity near full moon or high lunar altitude, the other two species remained relatively unaffected. By incorporating both absolute hour and solar-referenced night-phase indices, we further clarified how diel behavior varies across seasons. Weather factors such as wind and rain suppressed vocal activity across all species, but to a varying degree. These results highlight the ecological divergence in nocturnal communication strategies among different owl species, with implications for improving survey timing and species detection in community monitoring.