Female canaries are sexually responsive to special song phrases

Social Modulation of Sequence and Syllable Variability in Adult Birdsong

“…This perspective also suggests that reduced variability in syllable structure and sequencing could require greater motor control or effort and, therefore, that stereotypy itself could be a feature preferred by female Bengalese finches. The degree to which these features influence female choice remains to be addressed in this species, but in other songbird species, features that are influenced by social context have been found to affect female preferences (e.g., Kreutzer et al 1999;Vallet and Kreutzer 1995;Vallet et al 1998). One interesting example that highlights the potential function of changes to song variability is the chestnut-sided warbler: in this species, males produce more stereotyped songs during the time of day when interactions with females are more prevalent, and males with increased syllable stereotypy have been found to enjoy higher reproductive success (Byers 1995(Byers , 2007.…”

“…First, strings of repeated syllables are present in Bengalese finch song, and in songbird species such as the canary, such repeats can play an important role in social interactions (Kreutzer et al 1999;Vallet and Kreutzer 1995;Vallet et al 1998). Therefore, we asked whether UD and FD songs differed in the prevalence of transitions to strings of repeats at branch points.…”

The ability to perform physically challenging songs predicts age and size in male swamp sparrows, Melospiza georgiana

“…In laboratory experiments, Vallet and colleagues (Vallet & Kreutzer 1995;Vallet et al 1998) found that phrases characterized by rapid repetition rates of frequency-modulated notes elicited the strongest female response in canaries. In later studies, Draganoiu et al (2002) found that, when given a choice, female canaries preferred trilled phrases that were beyond physical limitations in terms of the trade-off between trill rate and frequency bandwidth.…”

The information banded mongooses extract from heterospecific alarms

“…The mongooses responded to alarm calls of all three plover species, yet the response intensity tended to differ among the three plover species. This effect may be attributable to sensory differences biases which, for example, might make the detection of spurwinged plover calls more likely because of their steeper frequency modulation (Vallet & Kreutzer 1995).…”