Multiple estimation methods suggest similar repertoire sizes for Gulf Coast and eastern marsh wrens with no correlation between repertoire size and migratory distance

Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A.M. Luttrell ◽  
Megan E. Gallagher ◽  
Bernard Lohr
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Curve Fitting ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Large Signal ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Cistothorus Palustris ◽  
Coupon Collector ◽  
Signalling Systems

There are many ways for signalling systems to be complex, one of which is a large signal repertoire. However, it is frequently challenging to estimate larger repertoires accurately. We present the first description of repertoire size for a subspecies of marsh wren on the Gulf Coast of North America,Cistothorus palustris thryophilus, using four repertoire estimation techniques (simple enumeration, Wildenthal curve-fitting, Davidson & Wilkinson curve-fitting, and the Coupon Collector model). We demonstrate that the repertoire estimation methods in question perform with varying degrees of accuracy under natural conditions, and propose that rather than establishing an absolute repertoire size for a given individual it may instead be necessary to use multiple techniques to establish a repertoire range. We find thatC. p. thryophilushas a song repertoire size falling well within the range of repertoires produced by other marsh wren subspecies in eastern North America, although it may be on the larger end of this range. We find no evidence supporting a correlation between migratory distance and increased repertoire size in this species, as might be predicted under a sexual selection hypothesis.

Differences in Repertoire Size, Singing Behavior, and Associated Neuroanatomy Among Marsh Wren Populations Have a Genetic Basis

The Auk ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald E. Kroodsma ◽  
Richard A. Canady
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Early Experience ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Learned Behavior ◽  
Singing Behavior ◽  
Developmental Mechanisms ◽  
Cistothorus Palustris

Abstract Among songbirds, adult song forms usually are determined culturally during an individual's early experience. In the Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris), we have demonstrated that the quantity of this learned behavior (i.e. song repertoire size), its style of delivery, and the size of controlling nuclei in the forebrain have a genetic basis. Nestling males taken from New York and California and reared under standardized conditions in the laboratory still develop population-typical behavior and neuroanatomy. We do not know the developmental mechanisms responsible for these differences, but we believe that year-round residency, high densities, and polygynous mating systems are likely factors contributing to an escalation of vocal abilities in the western populations.

Birds of Summer Solstice: World-Renewal Rituality on the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Goodwin ◽  
Kenneth E. Sassaman ◽  
Meggan E. Blessing ◽  
David W. Steadman
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Fish Bone ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Summer Solstice ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Northern Gulf Coast

Prevalent as bird imagery is in the ritual traditions of eastern North America, the bony remains of birds are relatively sparse in archaeological deposits and when present are typically viewed as subsistence remains. A first-millennium ad civic-ceremonial centre on the northern Gulf Coast of Florida contains large pits with bird bones amid abundant fish bone and other taxa. The avian remains are dominated by elements of juvenile white ibises, birds that were taken from offshore rookeries at the time of summer solstices. The pits into which they were deposited were emplaced on a relict dune with solstice orientations. The timing and siting of solstice feasts at this particular centre invites discussion of world-renewal rituality and the significance of birds in not only the timing of these events but also possibly as agents of balance and rejuvenation.

Regional attenuation models in Central and Eastern North America using the NGA-East database

2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302110187
Author(s):  
Jeff Bayless
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Frequency Dependence ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Site Response ◽  
Epistemic Uncertainty ◽  
Amplitude Spectrum ◽  
Active Regions ◽  
Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Anelastic Attenuation

The anelastic attenuation term found in ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) represents the distance dependence of the effect of intrinsic and scattering attenuation on the wavefield as it propagates through the crust and contains the frequency-dependent quality factor, [Formula: see text], which is an inverse measure of the effective anelastic attenuation. In this work, regional estimates of [Formula: see text] in Central and Eastern North America (CENA) are developed using the NGA-East regionalization. The technique employed uses smoothed Fourier amplitude spectrum (FAS) data from well-recorded events in CENA as collected and processed by NGA-East. Regional [Formula: see text] is estimated using an assumption of average geometrical spreading applicable to the distance ranges considered. Corrections for the radiation pattern effect and for site response based on [Formula: see text] result in a small but statistically significant improvement to the residual analysis. Apparent [Formula: see text] estimates from multiple events are combined within each region to develop the regional models. Models are provided for three NGA-East regions: the Gulf Coast, Central North America, and the Appalachian Province. Consideration of the model uncertainties suggests that the latter two regions could be combined. There were not sufficient data to adequately constrain the model in the Atlantic Coastal Plain region. Tectonically stable regions are usually described by higher [Formula: see text] and weaker frequency dependence ([Formula: see text]), while active regions are typically characterized by lower [Formula: see text] and stronger frequency dependence, and the results are consistent with these expectations. Significantly different regional [Formula: see text] is found for events with data recorded in multiple regions, which supports the NGA-East regionalization. An inspection of two well-recorded events with data both in the Mississippi embayment and in southern Texas indicates that the Gulf Coast regionalization by Cramer in 2017 may be an improvement to that of NGA-East for anelastic attenuation. The [Formula: see text] models developed serve as epistemic uncertainty alternatives in CENA based on a literature review and a comparison with previously published models.

Neritoptyx hogansoninew species (Gastropoda, Mollusca) from the Upper Cretaceous Fox Hills Formation on the Dakota Isthmus, western United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-290
Author(s):  
J. Mark Erickson
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
United States ◽  
New Species ◽  
North America ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Western Interior Seaway ◽  
Decapod Crustaceans ◽  
Upper Maastrichtian

AbstractIn midcontinent North America, the Fox Hills Formation (Upper Cretaceous, upper Maastrichtian) preserves the last marine faunas in the central Western Interior Seaway (WIS).Neritoptyx hogansoninew species, a small littoral snail, exhibited allometric change from smooth to corded ornament and rounded to shouldered shape during growth. Specimens preserve a zig-zag pigment pattern that changes to an axial pattern during growth.Neritoptyx hogansoninew species was preyed on by decapod crustaceans, and spent shells were occupied by pagurid crabs. Dead mollusk shells, particularly those ofCrassostrea subtrigonalis(Evans and Shumard, 1857), provided a hard substrate to which they adhered on the Fox Hills tidal flats. This new neritimorph gastropod establishes a paleogeographic and chronostratigraphic proxy for intertidal conditions on the Dakota Isthmus during the late Maastrichtian. Presence of a neritid extends the marine tropical/temperate boundary in the WIS northward to ~44° late Maastrichtian paleolatitude. Late Maastrichtian closure of the isthmus subsequently altered marine heat transfer by interrupting northward flow of tropical currents from the Gulf Coast by as much as 1 to 1.5 million years before the Cretaceous ended.UUID:http://zoobank.org/3ba56c07-fcca-4925-a2f0-df663fc3a06b

scholarly journals Fitness Correlates of Song Repertoire Size in Free‐Living Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia)

2005 ◽  
Vol 165 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane M. Reid ◽  
Peter Arcese ◽  
Alice L. E. V. Cassidy ◽  
Sara M. Hiebert ◽  
James N. M. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Melospiza Melodia ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Song Sparrows

scholarly journals Estimating Origins of Three Species of Neotropical Migrant Songbirds at a Gulf Coast Stopover Site: Combining Stable Isotope and Gis Tools

The Condor ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith A. Hobson ◽  
Steve Van Wilgenburg ◽  
Leonard I. Wassenaar ◽  
Frank Moore ◽  
Jeffrey Farrington
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Stopover Site ◽  
Avian Migration ◽  
The North ◽  
Gis Tools ◽  
Migrating Birds ◽  
Wood Thrushes

AbstractMeasurement of stable-hydrogen isotopes (δD) in feathers of migrating birds can provide information on where feathers were grown in North America, at least to an approximate band of latitude. This approach has greatly increased our ability to investigate aspects of avian migration and stopover ecology, since origins of unmarked individuals at migration stopover sites can be estimated for the first time. However, few studies have explored the power of combining isotope measurements with geographic information system (GIS) methods. We measured δD values in feathers of hatching-year (HY) Swainson's Thrushes (Catharus ustulatus; n  =  60), Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina; n  =  113), and Gray Catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis; n  =  158) at Ft. Morgan Peninsula, Alabama (30°10′N, 88°00′W), a migration stopover site along the Gulf coast. By applying an elevation-corrected hydrogen isotope basemap for birds in North America, we derived a GIS surface depicting expected feather δD values across the continent. We then used GIS to constrain the possible origins of the sampled populations by considering only values falling within the North American breeding ranges of the species. We depicted likely origins of migrating birds by the 50% and 75% tolerance limits of the data. Our GIS analysis indicated that our captured populations represented much-reduced regions of possible origin based on the North American breeding distributions. Gradients in abundance data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) allowed us to further narrow possible origins within isotopic boundaries for Wood Thrushes and Gray Catbirds. This exercise provided a means by which priority regions and habitats could be assessed at large continental scales based on actual productivity. We suggest the combination of isotopic and GIS tools provides a powerful means to derive conservation priorities and to investigate key factors involved in the ecology of avian migration and stopover.

Age-related variation in song repertoire size and repertoire sharing of yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia)

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1926-1929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Cosens ◽  
Spencer G. Sealy
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Dendroica Petechia ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Fledging Success ◽  
Related Variation ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Yellow Warblers ◽  
Clutch Initiation

Songs of male yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia), ranging from 1 to 6 years of age, were recorded in the spring and summer of 1984. Recorded repertoire size and number of songs shared with neighbours varied positively with age in the spring but not in summer. Neither clutch initiation date nor fledging success varied with age or number of songs shared but both measures of reproductive success varied with size of recorded song repertoire.

scholarly journals Song Variation Among CISTOTHORUS Wrens, With a Focus on the MÉrida Wren

The Condor ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 855-861
Author(s):  
Donald E. Kroodsma ◽  
Krista Wilda ◽  
Viviana Salas ◽  
Roldan Muradian
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Song Variation ◽  
New Type ◽  
Song Types ◽  
Site Faithfulness

Abstract Evidence from two Cistothorus wrens (C. palustris, C. platensis) has suggested that repertoire size increases with population density and that song imitators are more likely to be site faithful than are song improvisers. We tested these two ideas on a third species, C. meridae, an endemic to the Venezuelan Andes. Of the three Cistothorus wrens, song repertoire sizes of male Mérida Wrens are the smallest, ranging from 18 to 27 song types per male; Mérida Wrens are also most likely to repeat each type several times before switching to a new type. Density of Mérida Wrens was also lowest, from 0.4 to 2.0 territories per 10 ha. These wrens are highly site faithful, with marked microgeographic song variation. Female Mérida Wrens also sing. Overall, data from the Mérida Wren support the ideas that, among Cistothorus wrens, song repertoire sizes increase with population density and site faithfulness promotes song imitation. Variación en el Canto en Cistothorus, con Énfasis en C. meridae Resumen. La evidencia proveniente de dos especies del género Cistothorus (C. palustris, C. platensis) sugiere que el tamaño del repertorio aumenta con la densidad poblacional y que los imitadores de cantos tienen una mayor probabilidad de ser territoriales que los que improvisan. Estas dos ideas fueron probadas en una tercera especie endémica de los Andes venezolanos, C. meridae. El tamaño del repertorio del canto de esta especie, con 18 a 27 tipos de canto por macho, es el más pequeño de estas tres especies. C. meridae también tiene una mayor probabilidad de repetir cada tipo de canto varias veces antes de cambiar a un tipo nuevo. La densidad de C. meridae también fue la menor, con 0.4 a 2.0 territorios por cada 10 hectáreas. C. meridae es muy territorial, con una marcada variación microgeográfica en las cantos. Las hembras de esta especie también cantan. En resumen, estos datos apoyan las ideas de que en el género Cistothorus, el tamaño del repertorio del canto aumenta con la densidad poblacional y que la territorialidad promueve la imitación de cantos.

scholarly journals Trill consistency is an age-related assessment signal in banded wrens

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1665) ◽  
pp. 2315-2321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selvino R. de Kort ◽  
Erin R.B. Eldermire ◽  
Sandra Valderrama ◽  
Carlos A. Botero ◽  
Sandra L. Vehrencamp
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Phenotypic Trait ◽  
First Year ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Related Trait ◽  
Structural Aspects ◽  
Older Males

Older males tend to have a competitive advantage over younger males in sexual selection. Therefore, it is expected that signals used in sexual selection change with age. Although song repertoire size in songbirds is often mentioned as an age-related trait, many species, including the banded wren ( Thryothorus pleurostictus ), do not increase their repertoires after the first year. Here, we show that banded wrens reproduce the trill notes in their songs with less variability between them (i.e. more consistently) when they grow older. In a playback experiment, we also show that banded wrens discriminate between younger and older birds based on structural aspects of their song. In a second experiment, banded wrens also respond differentially to natural songs versus songs with artificially enhanced consistency. We argue that consistency in trill note reproduction may be achieved through practice. Sexual selection in the form of male–male competition may therefore operate on a phenotypic trait, the expression of which is enhanced by practice.

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