scholarly journals Patterns of call communication between group-housed zebra finches change during the breeding cycle

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa F Gill ◽  
Wolfgang Goymann ◽  
Andries Ter Maat ◽  
Manfred Gahr
Keyword(s):  
Communication Systems ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Life History Stages ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Call Repertoire ◽  
Vocal Interactions

Vocal signals such as calls play a crucial role for survival and successful reproduction, especially in group-living animals. However, call interactions and call dynamics within groups remain largely unexplored because their relation to relevant contexts or life-history stages could not be studied with individual-level resolution. Using on-bird microphone transmitters, we recorded the vocalisations of individual zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) behaving freely in social groups, while females and males previously unknown to each other passed through different stages of the breeding cycle. As birds formed pairs and shifted their reproductive status, their call repertoire composition changed. The recordings revealed that calls occurred non-randomly in fine-tuned vocal interactions and decreased within groups while pair-specific patterns emerged. Call-type combinations of vocal interactions changed within pairs and were associated with successful egg-laying, highlighting a potential fitness relevance of calling dynamics in communication systems.

scholarly journals Reproductive suppression in female cooperatively breeding cichlids

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 606-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dik Heg
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Alloparental Care ◽  
Large Female ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Small Female ◽  
Reproductive Suppression ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Female Subordinate

Suppression by dominants of female subordinate reproduction has been found in many vertebrate social groups, but has rarely been shown experimentally. Here experimental evidence is provided for reproductive suppression in the group-living Lake Tanganyika cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher . Within groups of three unrelated females, suppression was due to medium- and small-sized females laying less frequently compared with large females, and compared with medium females in control pairs. Clutch size and average egg mass of all females depended on body size, but not on rank. In a second step, a large female was removed from the group and a very small female was added to keep the group size constant. The medium females immediately seized the dominant breeding position in the group and started to reproduce as frequently as control pairs, whereas clutch size and egg mass did not change. These results show that female subordinate cichlids are reproductively capable, but apparently suppressed with respect to egg laying. Nevertheless, some reproduction is tolerated, possibly to ensure continued alloparental care by subordinate females.

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.

A test of the predator avoidance hypothesis to explain delayed onset of communal breeding

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 332-339
Author(s):  
D. Strickland ◽  
E. Brouwer ◽  
T.M. Burg
Keyword(s):  
Predator Avoidance ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Communal Breeding ◽  
The Family ◽  
Perisoreus Canadensis ◽  
Insufficient Time ◽  
Anticosti Island ◽  
Free Environment ◽  
Late Stages

A neglected question in the study of communal breeding concerns why alloparental behaviour begins at variously late stages in the breeding cycle. In group-living corvids, the delay tends to be longer in species that are small and (or) typically have only a small nonbreeder complement. This pattern has been attributed to the relatively poor defensive capabilities of such species and their consequently greater need to minimize predator-attracting traffic to the nest or fledglings. We tested this predator avoidance hypothesis with the Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis (Linnaeus, 1766)), a species in which the feeding of young by any nonbreeders in the family group is delayed until the fledgling period. We reasoned that, on Anticosti Island, Quebec (Canada), in the absence of squirrels and other nest predators, nonbreeders might be permitted to feed nestlings as well as fledglings, and that breeders might feed nestlings more frequently (with smaller food loads) than on the mainland. We found no evidence for either prediction and thus no support for the predator avoidance hypothesis but suggest that Anticosti Canada Jays may have had insufficient time to evolve behaviour more appropriate for their predator-free environment. Secondarily, we confirmed that in all observed instances, the nonbreeders were offspring of the breeding pair from previous years and that they therefore failed to provision nestlings in spite of an apparent genetic interest to do so.

Variation during breeding in parameters that influence blood oxygen carrying capacity in shearwaters

2000 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Davey ◽  
Alan Lill ◽  
John Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Blood Parameters ◽  
Aerobic Metabolism ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Main Trend ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Blood Oxygen ◽  
Pattern Of Variation ◽  
Oxygen Carrying Capacity

Parameters that influence blood oxygen carrying capacity (whole-blood haemoglobin content, haematocrit and red blood cell count) were measured in samples of 30 breeding, adult short-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris) on Phillip Island, Victoria at seven key stages of their reproductive cycle. The aim of the investigation was to determine whether variation in blood oxygen carrying capacity during the birds’ 7-month breeding cycle was correlated with variation in the energy demands they experienced or was an incidental by-product of other physiological changes. All the blood parameters varied significantly during breeding, but the pattern of variation was only partly correlated with the likely pattern of changing energy demand imposed on parents by their schedule of breeding activities. The main trend conceivably related to energy demand was that significantly higher values were recorded for these blood parameters during the nestling stage than earlier in the breeding cycle. This could have reflected the high costs of the very long foraging trips undertaken by parents feeding nestlings, but it could also have occurred in preparation for the long migration undertaken soon after breeding finished. It involved an ~10% increase in blood oxygen carrying capacity above the lowest mean value recorded during the breeding cycle and so other mechanisms must also be employed to achieve the increase in aerobic metabolism likely to be required at this stage. The lack of adjustment of blood oxygen carrying capacity to energy demand early in the breeding cycle suggests that either oxygen delivery was not a rate-limiting process for aerobic metabolism at that time or that delivery was enhanced through other mechanisms. At egg laying, females had a lower haematocrit and erythrocyte count than males, which could be attributable to either estrogenic suppression of erythropoiesis or an increase in osmotic pressure of the blood associated with yolk synthesis. Immature, non-breeding birds attending the colony were of similar mass to adults, but did not show the increase in the parameters determining blood oxygen carrying capacity that occurred in adults later in the breeding cycle. Factors other than changing energy requirements (dehydration, burrow hypoxia and differential responsiveness to capture stress) that might have influenced the pattern of variation in blood oxygen carrying capacity of adults during breeding are discussed.

scholarly journals Pheromone Use for Insect Control: Present Status and Prospect in Bangladesh

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Azharul Islam
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Pest Control ◽  
Present Status ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Insect Control ◽  
Crop Pests ◽  
Agricultural Growth ◽  
Integrated Crop Management

The insect’s world is filled with many odors. Insects use these odors to cue them in a variety of complex social behaviors, including courtship, mating, and egg laying. Scientists and pest control specialists have known about these complex communication systems for decades. The main aim of this study was to visualize the availability, trends and differences in the sources of pheromone control in agricultural growth of Bangladesh. It also concerned on constrains and present use of pheromone and their possible recommendation on behalf of Bangladesh agriculture. It concentrated on the data during last three decades (1980-2010), comprising status of pheromone use in Bangladesh agriculture and its future. Review revealed that Bangladesh has been enormously successful in increasing pheromone use in agricultural production (especially for vegetables). Understanding of the nature of pheromones and their potential for pest control along with the future prospective of pheromone technique in agriculture were stated. Since the pheromone, technologies for control of major crop pests in Bangladesh are still limited. So that this review emphasized on more attention to the authority to increase the research works and project facilities related to develop and promote pheromone techniques. It is highly recommended to increase availability of pheromone in market, more investment in research and development, introduction of newly identified pheromone for specific pest, to assist government and nongovernment organizations to work with farmers to reduce harmful insecticide use and promote pheromone tactics as one part of integrated crop management (ICM). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v2i1.14005 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 2 (1): 47-55, June, 2012

scholarly journals Inhibition within a premotor circuit controls the timing of vocal turn-taking in zebra finches

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan I. Benichov ◽  
Daniela Vallentin
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Vocal Responses ◽  
Local Inhibition ◽  
Impaired Ability ◽  
Neuron Activation ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Turn Taking ◽  
Pharmacological Manipulations

AbstractVocal turn-taking is a fundamental organizing principle of human conversation but the neural circuit mechanisms that structure coordinated vocal interactions are unknown. The ability to exchange vocalizations in an alternating fashion is also exhibited by other species, including zebra finches. With a combination of behavioral testing, electrophysiological recordings, and pharmacological manipulations we demonstrate that activity within a cortical premotor nucleus orchestrates the timing of calls in socially interacting zebra finches. Within this circuit, local inhibition precedes premotor neuron activation associated with calling. Blocking inhibition results in faster vocal responses as well as an impaired ability to flexibly avoid overlapping with a partner. These results support a working model in which premotor inhibition regulates context-dependent timing of vocalizations and enables the precise interleaving of vocal signals during turn-taking.

Breeding Cycle and Behavior of the Semipalmated Sandpiper at Barrow, Alaska

The Auk ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoshana Ashkenazie ◽  
Uriel N. Safriel
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Pair Formation ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpiper ◽  
The Family ◽  
Polygonal Area ◽  
Calidris Pusilla ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract Pair formation of Calidris pusilla near Barrow, Alaska occurs 3-6 days after the territory is established. The pair is then engaged in nest scraping displays during 2-3 days, in which 10-12 scrapes are made by the male and examined by the female. Eventually 2-3 scrapes are lined by the female, and in one of these the first egg is laid 4-6 days after pairing. During the egg-laying period further lining is performed by the female and partial incubation takes place by both sexes. Continuous incubation commences 8 h prior to laying of the 4th egg. Male and female alternate in incubation: in the first 2 days a turn lasts 3-5 h, and the duration gradually increases up to 13-14 h during the 2nd week. Long incubation turns reduce the number of approaches to the nest and may therefore reduce the chances of it being discovered by predators. The incubating bird is intermittently engaged in egg-rolling and in camouflaging the nest by bending adjacent grass blades over its back, and is constantly alert. The off-duty bird may feed 2-3 km away from the nest. The eggs hatch after 20 days of incubation, all within 1 day. Females desert the family 2-8 days after hatching: they desert late if hatching is early, and early if hatching is late in the season. After female departure the family moves from the nesting territory, typically in a high-centered polygonal area, to establish a home range as far as 2-3 km away, often in a low-centered polygonal area. During the first 6-8 days after hatching, the male prepares each evening a scrape for night brooding. After fledging, the male and young join wandering flocks.

scholarly journals Seasonal Patterns of Singing Activity Vary With Time of day in The Nightingale (Luscinia Megarhynchos)

The Auk ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentin Amrhein ◽  
Hansjoerg P. Kunc ◽  
Marc Naguib
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Singing Behavior ◽  
The Social ◽  
Luscinia Megarhynchos ◽  
Singing Activity ◽  
Late Stages

Abstract Seasonal patterns of singing activity of male birds have been thoroughly studied, but little is known about how those patterns vary with time of day. Here, we censused mated and unmated male Nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) at four different hours of the day throughout the breeding cycle. In unmated males, singing activity increased until the young hatched in their neighborhood, and the seasonal variation was similar at each of the four hours of the day. In mated males, however, the seasonal patterns of singing activity differed between hours of the day. In morning (about the hour of egg-laying) and during the dusk chorus, the singing activity of mated males was strongly influenced by the females' reproductive state: singing activity was low before egg-laying and during incubation, but high during the egg-laying period. In the dawn chorus, however, singing activity showed a similar seasonal pattern in mated and unmated males and was high until late stages of the breeding cycle. Our results suggest that the social context influences singing behavior to a varying degree across the season, and that this variation also depends on time of day. The hour of data collection thus is an important but often neglected factor when seasonal changes of singing activity are studied.

scholarly journals Interactional synchrony: signals, mechanisms and benefits

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hoehl ◽  
Merle Fairhurst ◽  
Annett Schirmer
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Group Living ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Interactional Synchrony ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Temporal Regularity ◽  
Superior Temporal Cortex ◽  
Interval Sequence ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Many group-living animals, humans included, occasionally synchronize their behavior with that of conspecifics. Social psychology and neuroscience have attempted to explain this phenomenon. Here we sought to integrate results around three themes: the stimuli, the mechanisms and the benefits of interactional synchrony. As regards stimuli, we asked what characteristics, apart from temporal regularity, prompt synchronization and found that stimulus modality and complexity are important. The high temporal resolution of the auditory system and the relevance of socio-emotional information endow auditory, multimodal, emotional and somewhat variable and adaptive sequences with particular synchronizing power. Looking at the mechanisms revealed that traditional perspectives emphasizing beat-based representations of others’ signals conflict with more recent work investigating the perception of temporal regularity. Timing processes supported by striato-cortical loops represent any kind of repetitive interval sequence fairly automatically. Additionally, socio-emotional processes supported by posterior superior temporal cortex help endow such sequences with value motivating the extent of synchronizing. Synchronizing benefits arise from an increased predictability of incoming signals and include many positive outcomes ranging from basic information processing at the individual level to the bonding of dyads and larger groups.

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