Function of pair duets in the eastern whipbird: cooperative defense or sexual conflict?

Rogers, Amy C.; Langmore, Naomi E.; Mulder, Raoul A.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arl070

Cited by 54 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The results of studies of female Eastern Whipbirds (Rogers et al 2006, 2007) and Rufous‐and‐white Wrens (males only: Mennill 2006; both sexes: Mennill and Vehrencamp 2008) provide support for the mate‐guarding hypothesis, with multi‐speaker playback experiments indicating that birds use duets to advertise the mated status of their partner. In each of these studies, birds exhibited greater responses to speakers broadcasting same‐sex stimuli.…”

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confidence: 90%

“…Male whipbirds matched the song types of conspecific males during playback, whereas females preferentially matched the songs of their mate rather than matching the female component of the duet stimulus (Rogers et al 2006). This difference in behavior suggests that male and female whipbirds have different and possibly conflicting strategies for mate and territory defense, possibly resulting from the female‐biased population sex ratio (Rogers et al 2006, 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Male Black‐bellied Wrens were more likely to initiate duets during opposite‐sex playback, whereas both males and females responded to their partner's songs more often when in close proximity to each other, possibly to provide information about location and individual identity (Logue and Gammon 2004). In contrast, female Eastern Whipbirds did not initiate duets more often during opposite‐sex playback, suggesting that female whipbirds do not duet with their partner to provide information about their identity (Rogers et al 2007).…”

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A review of acoustic playback techniques for studying avian vocal duets

Douglas

Mennill

2010

Journal of Field Ornithology

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Playback experiments involve the broadcast of natural or synthetic sound stimuli and provide a powerful tool for studying acoustic communication in birds. Playback is a valuable technique for exploring vocal duetting behavior because it allows investigators to test predictions of the various hypotheses for duet function. Here, we adopt a methodological perspective by considering various challenges specific to studying duetting behavior, and highlighting the utility of different playback designs for testing duet function. Single‐speaker playback experiments allow investigators to determine how duetting birds react to different stimuli, but do not simulate duets in a spatially realistic manner. Multi‐speaker playback experiments are superior to single‐speaker designs because duet stimuli are broadcast with spatial realism and unique and additional predictions can be generated for testing duet function. In particular, multi‐speaker playback allows investigators to evaluate how birds respond to male versus female duet contributions separately, based on reactions to the different loudspeakers. Interactive playback allows investigators to ask questions about the time‐ and pattern‐specific singing behavior of birds, and to understand how singing strategies correspond to physical behavior during vocal interactions. Although logistically challenging, interactive playback provides a powerful tool for examining specific elements of duets (such as the degree of coordination) and may permit greater insight into their functions from an operational perspective. Interactive playback designs where the investigator simulates half of a duet may be used to describe and investigate the function of pair‐specific and population‐wide duet codes. Regardless of experimental design, all playback experiments should be based on a sound understanding of the natural duetting behavior of the species of interest, and should aim to produce realistic and carefully controlled duet simulations. Future studies that couple playback techniques with other experimental procedures, such as Acoustic Location System recordings for monitoring the position of birds in dense vegetation or multimodal techniques that combine acoustic with visual stimuli, are expected to provide an even better understanding of these highly complex vocal displays.

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A review of acoustic playback techniques for studying avian vocal duets

Douglas

Mennill

2010

Journal of Field Ornithology

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“…Females in this species compete for male parental investment and females in multi-female groups have reduced reproductive success (Davies, 1986), but we do not know how reproductive success of females in multi-female groups compares for those that sing vs. those that do not sing. Female eastern whipbirds Psophodes olivaceus sing highly synchronized answers to male song that form duets and function to defend their mated position against rival females in a system where offspring survival depends on exclusive access to male care and there is a female-biased sex ratio among unmated birds (Rogers and Mulder, 2004;Rogers et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…), eastern whipbirds Psophodes olivaceous (Rogers et al. , ) and Steere's liocichlas Liocichla steerii (Weng et al. ) revealed that birds respond more strongly to the loudspeaker simulating the same‐sex vocalization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Responses of Duetting Antbirds to Stereo Duet Playback Provide Support for the Joint Territory Defence Hypothesis

Koloff

Mennill

2013

Ethology

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In multiple animal taxa, including many birds and primates, members of mated pairs produce coordinated acoustic displays known as duets. By observing the behaviour of territorial animals as they respond to playback‐simulated duets of rivals, we can gain insight into the behavioural significance of vocal duets. Playback experiments, however, have been conducted across a very narrow range of duetting animals. Furthermore, many studies have been conducted with single‐speaker playback, whereas stereo‐speaker playback offers more spatially realistic simulation of duets. Moreover, by evaluating the reactions of animals to separate loudspeakers broadcasting male and female duet contributions, we can study the interactions of both males and females with same‐sex vs. opposite‐sex rivals. We used a paired experimental design to broadcast duet stimuli through a single‐speaker and a stereo‐speaker apparatus to 30 pairs of duetting barred antshrikes Thamnophilus doliatus in Costa Rica. Our goals were (1) to evaluate whether territorial antbirds respond more aggressively to male vs. female duet components and (2) to assess aggressive responses of antbirds towards single‐speaker vs. stereo‐speaker playback. Neither males nor females differentiated between the loudspeaker simulating the male vs. female duet contribution during stereo‐speaker playback trials. Barred antshrikes displayed significantly stronger responses to stereo‐speaker playback compared with single‐speaker playback. Males displayed stronger playback responses than females with closer, quicker and more vocal responses. These results provide evidence for a joint resource defence function of antbird duets given that pairs responded together with equivalent intensity to male and female simulated intruders. This is the first study to show that although duetting is an aggressive territorial signal, birds do not necessarily respond to sex‐specific components of duets. Our results support the idea that spatially realistic stereo presentation of duet stimuli is critical for experimental duet research.

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Function of pair duets in the eastern whipbird: cooperative defense or sexual conflict?

Cited by 54 publications

References 25 publications

A review of acoustic playback techniques for studying avian vocal duets

A review of acoustic playback techniques for studying avian vocal duets

Female song and vocal interactions with males in a neotropical wren

The Responses of Duetting Antbirds to Stereo Duet Playback Provide Support for the Joint Territory Defence Hypothesis

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