Imitating the neighbours: vocal dialect matching in a mimic–model system

Abstract

Vocal mimicry provides a unique system for investigating song learning and cultural evolution in birds. Male lyrebirds produce complex vocal displays that include extensive and accurate mimicry of many other bird species. We recorded and analysed the songs of the Albert's lyrebird (Menura alberti ) and its most commonly imitated model species, the satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), at six sites in southeast Queensland, Australia. We show that each population of lyrebirds faithfully reproduces the song of the local population of bowerbirds. Within a population, lyrebirds show less variation in song structure than the available variation in the songs of the models. These results provide the first quantitative evidence for dialect matching in the songs of two species that have no direct ecological relationship.

Avian vocal mimicry: a unified conceptual framework

“…Male Albert's lyrebirds imitate the local dialect of a species-specific vocalisation given by satin bowerbirds, but the variation in that call is greater among bowerbirds than among lyrebirds, suggesting that lyrebirds learn from conspecifics as well as imitating the local population of bowerbirds (Putland et al, 2006). Male Albert's lyrebirds imitate the local dialect of a species-specific vocalisation given by satin bowerbirds, but the variation in that call is greater among bowerbirds than among lyrebirds, suggesting that lyrebirds learn from conspecifics as well as imitating the local population of bowerbirds (Putland et al, 2006).…”

“…Learning could be important for any of the three players in the mimicry system-the mimic, the receiver and the model-but most work has focussed on the mimic. Putland et al, 2006), particularly in species where adults mimic at nests (e.g. For mimicry that is learnt, understanding whether mimics have a fixed learning period ('closed-ended learning') or continue to accumulate or replace mimicked sounds throughout their life ('open-ended learning'), may assist in understanding the role of repertoire size of mimicked sounds, and the importance of sharing mimicked songs with conspecific or heterospecific neighbours (sensu Beecher, Campbell & Stoddard, 1994).…”

Elaborate Mimetic Vocal Displays by Female Superb Lyrebirds

“…females may directly copy model species or copy other females; whereas, males appear to learn their mimicry, at least in part, from other males (Robinson and Curtis, 1996;Higgins et al, 2001;Putland et al, 2006). In sum, both the functions and underlying mechanisms of elaborate vocalizations in lyrebirds appear to be different for both sexes, suggesting that males and females are under distinctly different selection pressures for vocal complexity.…”

Northern Mockingbirds produce syntactical patterns of vocal mimicry that reflect taxonomy of imitated species

“…Crucially, we do not know whether conspecifics or heterospecifics are used as tutors, although this might be determined by comparing acoustically the mimetic types used by neighboring mockingbirds to those of the original species (e.g., Kelley and Healy 2010). Extensive imitation of conspecifics apparently plays a role in the development of the mimetic repertoire of at least one other mimicking species, the Albert's Lyrebird ( Menura alberti ; Robinson and Curtis 1996, Putland et al 2006). Although much remains to be learned about the developmental and functional processes behind taxonomic doubles, we hope that documenting their existence will facilitate future discoveries.…”