scholarly journals Territory establishment, song learning strategies and survival in song sparrows

Ethology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 126 (7) ◽  
pp. 694-703
Author(s):  
Çağlar Akçay ◽  
S. Elizabeth Campbell ◽  
Saethra Darling ◽  
Michael D. Beecher
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Song Sparrows

scholarly journals Territory establishment, song learning strategies and survival in song sparrows

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Çağlar Akçay ◽  
S. Elizabeth. Campbell ◽  
Saethra Darling ◽  
Michael D. Beecher
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Significant Variation ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Song Sharing ◽  
Sedentary Population ◽  
Song Sparrows

AbstractIn most songbirds the processes of song learning and territory establishment overlap in the early life of young birds who usually winds up with songs matching those of their territorial neighbors in their first breeding season. In the present study, we examined the relationships among the timing of territory establishment, the pattern of song learning and territorial success in a sedentary population of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Males in this population show high song sharing within neighborhoods derving from their learning most of their songs from neighboring males. These shared songs are preferentially used in interactions with neighbors. Males also show significant variation in the timing of territory establishment, ranging from their first summer until the next spring. Using a three-year dataset, we found that the timing of territory establishment did not systematically affect the composition of the song repertoire of the tutee: early establishers and late establishers learned equally as much from their primary tutors, and had a similar number of tutors and repertoire size. Timing of territory establishment also did not have an effect on subsequent survival on territory. Therefore, the song learning program of song sparrows seems versatile enough to lead to high song sharing even for birds that establish territories relatively late.

scholarly journals Good tutors are not Dear Enemies in Song Sparrows

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Çağlar Akçay ◽  
S. Elizabeth Campbell ◽  
Michael D. Beecher
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Young Males ◽  
Song Sparrows ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
High Aggression ◽  
Cooperative Relationship

AbstractBird song is the most widely studied example of vocal learning outside human language and shares important parallels with it, including the importance of social factors during development. Our understanding of how social factors affect song learning however remains surprisingly incomplete. Here we examine the possible role of aggressive interactions in determining song “tutor” choice in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), a songbird in which individuals display song learning strategies ranging from learning primarily from one tutor, to learning a few songs each from a number of tutors. We test two hypotheses: The Competition hypothesis suggests that young birds learn more from tutors with whom they compete especially intensely and predicts that tutees will respond with high aggression to tutor songs. In contrast the Cooperation hypothesis suggests that song learning reflects a cooperative relationship between the tutor and the tutee and predicts that tutees will respond with low aggression to tutor songs. In a playback experiment we found that birds respond more aggressively to songs of their tutors than they do to songs of strangers and that the strength of aggressive response correlated positively with how much they had learned from that tutor. These results provide the first field evidence for the hypothesis that young males preferentially learn their songs from adult males with whom they compete most intensely during the song-learning phase, and perhaps afterwards.

Ecological correlates of song learning in song sparrows

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Nordby
Keyword(s):  
Song Learning ◽  
Song Sparrows ◽  
Ecological Correlates

Late song learning in song sparrows

2001 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.Cully Nordby ◽  
S.Elizabeth Campbell ◽  
Michael D. Beecher
Keyword(s):  
Song Learning ◽  
Song Sparrows

scholarly journals Early nutritional stress impairs development of a song-control brain region in both male and female juvenile song sparrows ( Melospiza melodia ) at the onset of song learning

2006 ◽  
Vol 273 (1600) ◽  
pp. 2559-2564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian F MacDonald ◽  
Bethany Kempster ◽  
Liana Zanette ◽  
Scott A MacDougall-Shackleton
Keyword(s):  
Food Restriction ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Nutritional Stress ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Melospiza Melodia ◽  
Developmental Stress ◽  
Song Sparrows ◽  
Control Brain ◽  
Song Control

Birdsong is a sexually selected trait and is often viewed as an indicator of male quality. The developmental stress hypothesis proposes a model by which song could be an indicator; the time during early development, when birds learn complex songs and/or local variants of song, is of rapid development and nutritional stress. Birds that cope best with this stress may better learn to produce the most effective songs. The developmental stress hypothesis predicts that early food restriction should impair development of song-control brain regions at the onset of song learning. We examined the effect of food restriction on song-control brain regions in fledgling (both sexes, 23–26 days old) song sparrows ( Melospiza melodia ). Food restriction selectively reduced HVC volume in both sexes. In addition, sex differences were evident in all three song-control regions. This study lends further support to a growing body of literature documenting a variety of behavioural, physiological and neural detriments in several songbird species resulting from early developmental stress.

Song-type sharing in song sparrows: implications for repertoire function and song learning

1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 437-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Hughes ◽  
Stephen Nowicki ◽  
William A. Searcy ◽  
Susan Peters
Keyword(s):  
Song Learning ◽  
Song Type ◽  
Song Sparrows

scholarly journals High Level of Song Sharing in an Eastern Population of Song Sparrow (Melospiza Melodia)

The Auk ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer R. Foote ◽  
Colleen A. Barber
Keyword(s):  
Song Learning ◽  
Melospiza Melodia ◽  
Song Sparrow ◽  
First Year ◽  
Eastern Population ◽  
Song Sharing ◽  
Song Sparrows ◽  
The Mean ◽  
High Level ◽  
Song Types

Abstract Using shared songs is believed to be an integral part of neighbor communication and territory establishment strategies among many avian species with repertoires. Previous studies of two western subspecies of Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) reported a high level of song sharing among neighboring males, whereas studies of an eastern subspecies have reported a very low level. The purpose of our study was to investigate another population of the eastern subspecies to determine whether higher song-sharing levels existed within its range. Every song in the repertoire of 29 males was compared with the songs of all other males to assess the number of shared songs. For each male, we calculated the mean song-sharing level with neighbors and non-neighbors. Males shared, on average, 33% of their repertoire with neighbors, significantly more than they shared with non-neighbors (27% of their repertoire). Two first-year males learned whole song types from several individuals and preferentially learned the song types shared among those individuals. Our results suggest that the eastern and western subspecies may not differ genetically in the way they learn songs, because song-sharing levels and song learning in our population were more similar to those of the western subspecies than to those of other populations within its own subspecies. Song-sharing differences among eastern populations may be explained instead by factors acting at the level of individual populations. Niveau Élevé de Chants Partagés chez une Population de l'Est de Melospiza melodia

Song Learning in Song Sparrows: Relative Importance of Autumn vs. Spring Tutoring

Ethology ◽  
2010 ◽  
pp. no-no ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigid Nulty ◽  
John M. Burt ◽  
Çağlar Akçay ◽  
Christopher N. Templeton ◽  
S. Elizabeth Campbell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Song Learning ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Song Sparrows

Early-life stress affects song complexity, song learning and volume of the brain nucleus RA in adult male song sparrows

2013 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim L. Schmidt ◽  
S. Drew Moore ◽  
Elizabeth A. MacDougall-Shackleton ◽  
Scott A. MacDougall-Shackleton
Keyword(s):  
Adult Male ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Male Song ◽  
Song Complexity ◽  
Song Sparrows ◽  
Brain Nucleus ◽  
The Brain

Song-learning strategies in the Bengalese finch: do chicks choose tutors based on song complexity?

2009 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 1107-1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayo Soma ◽  
Mariko Hiraiwa-Hasegawa ◽  
Kazuo Okanoya
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Bengalese Finch ◽  
Song Complexity
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