Bird species are characterised by amazing diversity of acoustic communication systems. Their properties are shaped by several ecological factors, which still are weakly known. This paper describes song structure, song types and within-song-type repertoire variation in yellowhammers Emberiza citrinella from a stable Polish population, analysed by using the minimal unit of production approach. We also present data on temporal organisation of song output in two singing contexts (solo vs. counter-singing). Males from the studied population sang strophes from only one dialect, characterised by specific composition of terminal whistles. The dialect from the study area seems to be identical to dialects described in geographically distant populations from eastern Germany, Hungary and Greece. Song type repertoire varied between 1 and 5 (exceptionally 8), but over 75% of extensively recorded males had only 2 or 3 song types in their repertoires, which is typical for the species. Within-song-type variation was analysed on two levels: (1) version level, describing the number of terminal whistles; and (2) variant level, describing any minor variation in syllable presentation. The pattern of song version usage was inconsistent. It could be connected both with singing context or song type characteristics and surely requires detailed research. Song variants were used by birds in a way suggesting that they represent a song production error. We found that males switched between different song types significantly faster when counter-singing, in comparison to solo singing, which could be related to elevated aggressive motivation or to some coordination of counter-singers’ output.
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