scholarly journals The interplay of within-species perceptual predispositions and experience during song ontogeny in zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata )

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1796) ◽  
pp. 20141860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sita M. ter Haar ◽  
Wiebke Kaemper ◽  
Koen Stam ◽  
Clara C. Levelt ◽  
Carel ten Cate
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Taeniopygia Guttata ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
Juvenile Male ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Perceptual Preferences ◽  
Zebra Finch Song

Vocal acquisition in songbirds and humans shows many similarities, one of which is that both involve a combination of experience and perceptual predispositions. Among languages some speech sounds are shared, while others are not. This could reflect a predisposition in young infants for learning some speech sounds over others, which combines with exposure-based learning. Similarly, in songbirds, some sounds are common across populations, while others are more specific to populations or individuals. We examine whether this is also due to perceptual preferences for certain within-species element types in naive juvenile male birds, and how such preferences interact with exposure to guide subsequent song learning. We show that young zebra finches lacking previous song exposure perceptually prefer songs with more common zebra finch song element types over songs with less common elements. Next, we demonstrate that after subsequent tutoring, birds prefer tutor songs regardless of whether these contain more common or less common elements. In adulthood, birds tutored with more common elements showed a higher song similarity to their tutor song, indicating that the early bias influenced song learning. Our findings help to understand the maintenance of similarities and the presence of differences among birds' songs, their dialects and human languages.

Song Tutor Choice in Zebra Finches and Bengalese Finches: the Relative Importance of Visual and Vocal Cues

Behaviour ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 104 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 281-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.S. Clay-Ton
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Taeniopygia Guttata ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
The Other ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Bengalese Finch ◽  
Vocal Cues ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Zebra Finch Song

AbstractThis paper examined the relative importance of visual and vocal cues for song tutor choice. In the first study zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, and Bengalese finches, Lonchura striata, were housed with two song tutors at independence, a zebra finch singing Bengalese finch song and a Bengalese finch singing zebra finch song. All the males tended to learn from the conspecific song tutor, irrespective of whether they had been raised by a pair of conspecifics, the female alone or cross-fostered to a pair of the other species. In the second study zebra finches were housed at independence with two conspecific song tutors, one with a normal song and one which sang Bengalese finch song elements. There was no tendency to learn zebra finch elements which suggests that species-specific elements are not important for song tutor choice in zebra finches. Other vocal differences between the tutors such as length of the song phrase and species-specific call notes might bias learning in favour of the conspecific. Visual differences between the two species, both in appearance and behaviour, seem to be important. Parental cues before independence appear to be relatively uninfluential. However, siblings may be important, both the species and number per clutch: this is a factor which has been overlooked in previous studies of song learning.

Do Contingencies with Tutor Behaviour Influence Song Learning in Zebra Finches?

Behaviour ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 135 (5) ◽  
pp. 599-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Houx ◽  
Carel Ten Cate
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Taeniopygia Guttata ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Sensitive Phase ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Juvenile Males

AbstractSocial interaction with a song tutor is often found to be important for the song learning process in songbirds, but the mechanism is still unclear. The main aim of this study is to find indications for contingencies between singing and interactive behaviours, between and within tutors and tutees, which might influence the song learning process of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). To this end we observed the interactions of eleven juvenile zebra finch males with their fathers (the tutors) and their mothers during the sensitive phase for song learning, and examined four different types of possible contingencies. The evidence for these contingencies was not very strong: (1) We found some weak indications that a tutee can anticipate tutor song by preceding tutor behaviour. There were no indications that (2) tutor song is contingent upon subsequent behaviour of the tutor, that (3) juvenile males can control singing of their tutor by preceding operant social behaviour, or that (4) social behaviour of the tutor reinforces singing of the tutee. We found some indications that the juvenile males attend actively to the tutor song. Furthermore, we found that the juvenile males maintained more mutual interactions with their father than with their mother. In general, we did not find any clear relationship between aspects of social interaction and song copying in zebra finches.

The Role of Aggression in Song Tutor Choice in the Zebra Finch: Cause or Effect?

Behaviour ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 133 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 103-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.E. Jones ◽  
P.J.B. Slater
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Taeniopygia Guttata ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Relative Level ◽  
Young Bird ◽  
Sensitive Phase

AbstractYoung male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) normally copy their song from one tutor when given a choice of two. Interaction is known to be a key feature of the learning process and this study examines the way in which one particular type of social behaviour, aggression, may affect tutor choice. Female raised zebra finches were given a choice of two song tutors, which had been pre-selected for differing levels of aggression, during the sensitive phase for song learning. A young bird was significantly more likely to learn from the tutor that was more aggressive to him, as found earlier by Clayton (1987). In addition, behavioural observations suggest that aggression towards the young bird was the cause rather than an effect of tutor choice. There was no significant relationship between the relative level of tutor aggression and the amount of his song copied. Changes in the level of aggression over the tutoring period are also discussed.

The Effects of Cross-Fostering On Selective Song Learning in Estrildid Finches

Behaviour ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 109 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 163-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.S. Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Taeniopygia Guttata ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Bengalese Finch ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Foster Father ◽  
Cross Fostering ◽  
Specific Learning

AbstractMale zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, which have been cross-fostered to Bengalesc finches, Lonchura striata, learn Bengalese finch song elements with as much accuracy as a male learning from his natural father. However, these elements are sung in phrases which are more nearly zebra finch length and lack the repetitiveness typical of the elements in a Bengalese finch phrase. Male Bengalese finches are also capable of learning song from a zebra finch foster-father. Males vary substantially but they tend to produce fewer, more widely spaced zebra finch elements in a Bengalese finch-length phrase. Both species show selective song learning and it is suggested that phrase length and the absence or presence of repeated elements might act as important cues for species-specific learning. Cross-fostered Bengalese finches seem to learn less than cross-fostered zebra finches: possible reasons for this are discussed.

scholarly journals Discrimination of natural acoustic variation in vocal signals

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam R. Fishbein ◽  
Nora H. Prior ◽  
Jane A. Brown ◽  
Gregory F. Ball ◽  
Robert J. Dooling
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Acoustic Communication ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Acoustic Variation ◽  
Zebra Finch Song ◽  
Human Listener

AbstractStudies of acoustic communication often focus on the categories and units of vocalizations, but subtle variation also occurs in how these signals are uttered. In human speech, it is not only phonemes and words that carry information but also the timbre, intonation, and stress of how speech sounds are delivered (often referred to as “paralinguistic content”). In non-human animals, variation across utterances of vocal signals also carries behaviorally relevant information across taxa. However, the discriminability of these cues has been rarely tested in a psychophysical paradigm. Here, we focus on acoustic communication in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), a songbird species in which the male produces a single stereotyped motif repeatedly in song bouts. These motif renditions, like the song repetitions of many birds, sound very similar to the casual human listener. In this study, we show that zebra finches can easily discriminate between the renditions, even at the level of single song syllables, much as humans can discriminate renditions of speech sounds. These results support the notion that sensitivity to fine acoustic details may be a primary channel of information in zebra finch song, as well as a shared, foundational property of vocal communication systems across species.

Maximized song learning of juvenile male zebra finches following BDNF expression in the HVC

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 3338-3344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falk Dittrich ◽  
Andries ter Maat ◽  
Rene F. Jansen ◽  
Anton Pieneman ◽  
Moritz Hertel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Song Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Juvenile Male ◽  
Bdnf Expression

scholarly journals Playback of colony sound alters the breeding schedule and clutch size in zebra finch ( Taeniopygia guttata ) colonies

2005 ◽  
Vol 272 (1561) ◽  
pp. 383-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Waas ◽  
Patrick W. Colgan ◽  
Peter T. Boag
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Taeniopygia Guttata ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
Breeding Systems ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Social Stimulation ◽  
Colonial Breeding

The hypothesis that social stimulation, derived from the presence and activities of conspecifics, can hasten and synchronize breeding in colonies of birds was tested. A modified playback/recorder system was used to continuously exaggerate the amount of colony sound available to zebra finches throughout their courtship period. Males that heard ‘sound supplements’ generated from their own colony sang more than males in control colonies that did not receive playback; males that heard samples from a different colony, sang at an intermediate level. Females that were exposed to the vocalizations of their mate and playback from a colony other than their own, laid eggs earlier and more synchronously than females in control colonies. Females that heard the vocalizations of their mate along with playback samples generated from their own colony, laid eggs more synchronously but not earlier than control females. Both acoustic treatments caused females to lay larger clutches. Social stimulation influences the breeding schedule and clutch size in zebra finch colonies. If there are advantages associated with these effects, social stimulation may contribute to the maintenance of colonial breeding systems.

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