Female Song in European Starlings: Sex Differences, Complexity, and Composition

Pavlova, Denitza; Pinxten, Rianne; Eens, Marcel

doi:10.1650/0010-5422(2005)107[0559:fsiess]2.0.co;2

Cited by 35 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…Sex differences in repertoire sizes between the two species (10.0 vs. 20.4 song types in banded wrens and 8.5 vs. 10.8 in T. rufalbus) appear primarily due to the larger repertoire size of male banded wrens. In some species, female song is somewhat less frequent and less complex than male song, for example in pied bush chats Saxicola caprata (Sethi et al, 2012), superb fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus (Kleindorfer et al, 2013) and European starlings Sturnus vulgaris (Pavlova et al, 2005). However, in other species females sing as much (Pilowsky and Rubenstein, 2013) or more (Price et al, 2008;Illes and Yunes-Jimenez, 2009) than males.…”

Section: Female Songmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Female European robins Erithacus rubecula sing in winter, when they maintain territories separately from males (Hoelzel, 1986;Schwabl, 1992), and female song in superb fairy-wrens is used to defend territories in a species where males are often absent from the territory (Cooney and Cockburn, 1995). Female song in these species is less elaborate than male song (Pavlova et al, 2005;Kleindorfer et al, 2013), but sex differences are not dramatic, for example in superb fairy-wrens around 45-50% of females and 50-65% of males sang in response to playback of neighbor songs (from Figure 3, Cooney and Cockburn, 1995). In contrast, the strong sexual dimorphism in song output in banded wrens during the breeding season, where females sang FIGURE 5 | Order effects on male approach.…”

Section: Intra-sexual or Joint Territorial Defensementioning

confidence: 99%

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Female song and vocal interactions with males in a neotropical wren

2015

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Bird song is thought to function primarily in same-sex competition, mate attraction, and reproductive stimulation of a partner. However, these conclusions are based largely on studies of the song of male birds in north-temperate species. We investigate female song in a Neotropical wren, Thryophilus pleurostictus, using observations and experiments to test the function of female song. Female banded wrens sang much less often than males, their songs were shorter, and their repertoire of song types was smaller. Females did not seem to sing for same-sex competition for resources or mates: female song rate did not increase in response to simulated intrusion, and females sang in response to less than one-third of playbacks simulating territorial intrusion by either unpaired or paired females. Territorial defense is important for both survival and reproduction in species that occupy all-purpose territories year-round, but female involvement in territorial defense was limited. Females were more likely to approach simulated intruders when their partner approached more closely, and were closer to their partner during playback simulating a pair of intruders, perhaps contributing to defense jointly with their partner. Females did not appear to use song to attract males for mating: only 25% of females sang in response to playback simulating an unpaired male during the nest-building period, and they were less likely to sing shortly before laying when they were more likely to be fertile. Female song in banded wrens seemed to be used primarily for communicating with their breeding partner: female songs overlapped or began within 1 s of a song by their partner more often than expected by chance, and male vocal behavior changed in response to song by their partner. However, the low rate of female song in banded wrens suggests this function does not select for song elaboration, consistent with the view that same-sex competition is the main driver of female song elaboration.

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Section: Female Songmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intra-sexual or Joint Territorial Defensementioning

confidence: 99%

Female song and vocal interactions with males in a neotropical wren

2015

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“…These elements often include rapid frequency modulations (Adret-Hausberger & Jenkins, 1988;Eens et al, 1989Eens et al, , 1992aHausberger, 1997). Click and high frequency motifs are generally found in all wild-caught adult male birds (Adret- Hausberger & Jenkins, 1988;Eens, Pinxten, & Verheyen, 1991a) whereas they can lack or can be far less produced by females (Hausberger & Black, 1991;Hausberger, Richard-Yris, Henry, Lepage, & Schmidt, 1995;Pavlova, Pinxten, & Eens, 2005). The production of click and high frequency motifs is accompanied by different patterns of wing movements specific to male birds (wing-flicking for click motifs and more frequently wing-waving for high frequency motifs (Böhner & Veit, 1993;Eens et al, 1989)).…”

Section: Song Terminologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult and peer influences on starling song development

Bertin

Hausberger

Henry

et al. 2007

Developmental Psychobiology

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Adult influence on song development was rarely investigated in complex social settings. We investigated the influence of the young/adult ratio on song learning in European starlings. Starling songs are composed of two categories: whistles and warbling. Warbling includes three parts: complex variable motifs, click motifs, and high frequency motifs. Song learning by young birds raised in group (G birds), in group with adults (GT birds) or in pair with one adult (IT birds) were compared. Song tutor choice, song sharing, and song quality varied with social context. The mere presence of adults in a group was not sufficient for young to develop all adult song features. Only IT birds chose adults as tutors. Social contact with only one adult enhanced acquisition of whistles, click motifs, individuality, and reduced the number of high frequency motifs (adult song features). This study suggests that the adult influence is proportional to young/adult ratio.

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“…Differences in the singing behaviour and song structure of male and female songs are evident in various species (e.g. white-crowned sparrows, Zonotrichia leucophrys: Baptista, Trail, DeWolfe, & Morton, 1993; bellbirds, Anthornis melanura: Brunton & Li, 2006; European robins, Erithacus rubecula: Hoelzel, 1986; European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris: Pavlova, Pinxten, & Eens, 2005). Even for species in which males and females produce acoustically similar vocalizations, it would be advantageous for birds to quickly assess the sex of a singing individual.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%