Correlated evolution between repertoire size and song plasticity predicts that sexual selection on song promotes open-ended learning

Robinson, Cristina M.; Snyder, Kate T.; Creanza, Nicole

doi:10.7554/elife.44454

Cited by 41 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Therefore, we propose that eastern bluebirds may be open‐ended learners and that both males and females are able to learn additional song types in adulthood through social interactions. This is further supported by previous work showing that selection on traits like large repertoire support vocal plasticity and open‐ended learning (Robinson et al., 2019). If female bluebirds are open‐ended learners, able to learn new songs seasonally via social interaction throughout their lives, this would be one of the first times open‐ended learning has been demonstrated in a female songbird (but see Pavlova et al., 2010; Walsh et al., 2019).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Large female song repertoires and within‐pair song type sharing in a temperate breeding songbird

et al. 2020

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Female song has been significantly understudied in songbirds. While male song has been studied for centuries, female song has only begun to be explored in the last few decades. This is especially true in relation to understanding repertoire size and function. In male songbirds, song repertoires are thought to function primarily in mate attraction and territory defense. Only a few studies to date have explored repertoire size in female songbirds, and many of those focused on tropical duetting species. We quantified the size and explored the function of song repertoires in a temperate breeding songbird, the eastern bluebird. Female song in eastern bluebirds functions primarily in communication with a social mate in order to maintain long-term pair bonds. Previous work in this species also documented that males have large repertoires serving a variety of purposes. We found that female bluebirds have similar song repertoire sizes to males. Also, females share their repertoires and song types more closely with their mate than shared with non-mates. This is one of the first studies to document large female repertoires in a non-duetting temperate species. Our findings indicate that large female repertoires and song type sharing in this species is integral to communication between social mates. Additionally, the large effect size of song type sharing with newly formed mates suggests open-ended learning may be present in this songbird, a previously under-documented phenomenon in females. This study provides the groundwork to explore the ontogeny and evolution of song repertoire size in female songbirds and to expand our understanding of song repertoires beyond their functions in males as an indicator of male fitness.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Large female song repertoires and within‐pair song type sharing in a temperate breeding songbird

et al. 2020

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“…Birdsong has been studied in ecology and evolution for decades (Marler & Tamura, ; Thorpe, ). Historically, field studies of birdsong have provided insights into mating and territory‐defense behaviours, evolutionary events such as speciation and hybridization and environmental adaptation (Grant & Grant, ; Liu & Kroodsma, ; Mason et al, ; Nowicki & Searcy, ; Robinson, Snyder, & Creanza, ; Slabbekoorn & Peet, ; Snyder & Creanza, ). These studies are often conducted with banded birds and direct recordings using parabolic microphones.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chipper: Open‐source software for semi‐automated segmentation and analysis of birdsong and other natural sounds

2020

Self Cite

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Audio recording devices have changed significantly over the last 50 years, making large datasets of recordings of natural sounds, such as birdsong, easier to obtain. This increase in digital recordings necessitates an increase in high‐throughput methods of analysis for researchers. Specifically, there is a need in the community for open‐source methods that are tailored to recordings of varying qualities and from multiple species collected in nature. We developed Chipper, a Python‐based software to semi‐automate both the segmentation of acoustic signals and the subsequent analysis of their frequencies and durations. For avian recordings, we provide widgets to best determine appropriate thresholds for noise and syllable similarity, which aid in calculating note measurements and determining song syntax. In addition, we generated a set of synthetic songs with various levels of background noise to test Chipper's accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility. Chipper provides an effective way to quickly generate quantitative, reproducible measures of birdsong. The cross‐platform graphical user interface allows the user to adjust parameters and visualize the resulting spectrogram and signal segmentation, providing a simplified method for analysing field recordings. Chipper streamlines the processing of audio recordings with multiple user‐friendly tools and is optimized for multiple species and varying recording qualities. Ultimately, Chipper supports the use of citizen‐science data and increases the feasibility of large‐scale multi‐species birdsong studies.

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“…vocal learning) [6][7][8][9] , a process that can give rise to local dialects that persist over hundreds of generations 10,11 . However, the repertoire of vocal learning birds also has a strong genetic component [11][12][13] . Across populations, innate biases in song perception, production, and learning sustain species-speci c song repertoires [13][14][15] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the repertoire of vocal learning birds also has a strong genetic component [11][12][13] . Across populations, innate biases in song perception, production, and learning sustain species-speci c song repertoires [13][14][15] . Canaries, for example, will faithfully imitate songs of abnormal combinatorial structure, but later, as they reach maturity, alter their songs to match a species typical song syntax to which they have not been exposed 16 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balanced imitation sustains song culture in zebra finches

Tchernichovski

Eisenberg-Edidin

Jarvis

2020

Preprint

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Juvenile songbirds acquire songs by imitation, as humans do speech. Although imitation should drive convergence within a group and divergence through drift between groups, zebra finch songs sustain high diversity within a colony, but only mild variation across colonies. We investigated this phenomenon by analyzing vocal learning statistics in 160 tutor-pupil pairs from a large breeding colony. Song imitation was persistently accurate in some families, but poor in other families. This could not be attributed to genetic differences, as fostered pupils copied their tutors’ vocal sounds as accurately or as poorly as the tutor’s biological pupils. We discovered two effects that explained the finding: first, even in cases of accurate imitation, pupils often recombined imitated syllables to form new units, and, therefore, distributions of syllable types in pupils’ songs were not well correlated with their tutors’; second, rare vocalizations in tutors’ songs became more abundant in their pupils’ songs, and vice versa. Consequently, cultural transmission of tutor songs that were high in acoustic diversity were stronger than those that were low in diversity. We suggest that a frequency dependent balanced imitation of vocal repertoires prevents the extinction of rare song elements and the overabundance of common ones. Within a group it promotes repertoire diversity, while across groups it constrains drift. Together with syllable recombination, balanced imitation sustains cross-generational homeostasis that prevents the collapse of vocal culture into either complete uniformity or chaos.

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Correlated evolution between repertoire size and song plasticity predicts that sexual selection on song promotes open-ended learning

Cited by 41 publications

References 77 publications

Large female song repertoires and within‐pair song type sharing in a temperate breeding songbird

Large female song repertoires and within‐pair song type sharing in a temperate breeding songbird

Chipper: Open‐source software for semi‐automated segmentation and analysis of birdsong and other natural sounds

Balanced imitation sustains song culture in zebra finches

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