Microgeographical variation in birdsong: Savannah sparrows exhibit microdialects in an island population

Hensel, Abby L J; Dobney, Sarah L.; Doucet, Stéphanie M.; Norris, D. Ryan; Newman, Amy E. M.; Williams, Heather; Mennill, Daniel J.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.04.008

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Although most of the dialects described span broad geographical scales, dialects have also been shown to occur at smaller geographic scales, and these are referred to as 'microdialects' [36,37]. In most species, however, it remains challenging to identify the specific social dynamics that drive the emergence of small-scale variation in acoustic signals, particularly in the wild.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do social interactions predict similarities in audio-visual courtship signals in spotted bowerbirds?

Knoester,

Spezie,

Mann

et al. 2022

Proceedings of the 10th Convention of the European Acoustics Association Forum Acusticum 2023

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Spotted bowerbirds perform a multi-modal courtship display on dedicated structures -bowers -that are built by one resident male. Bower owners tolerate the presence of specific subordinate males at their bowers, yet the role of these male-male associations remains unclear. One explanation is that these immature males are learning the skills required for successful sexual signalling. Courtship in this species consists of a sequence of harsh calls, body postures and movements. If social learning occurs, male-male associations may result in similarities in acoustic and visual signals within owner-subordinate pairs. In this study, we tested whether the magnitude of social interactions can predict similarities in audio-visual display patterns in a single population of spotted bowerbirds. We video-recorded their courtship behaviour to examine whether bowerbirds (i) exhibit micro-geographical similarities in their audiovisual displays and (ii) are more similar in their courtship to conspecifics with whom they interact more frequently at bowers. For both acoustic and visual courtship components, we found evidence for micro-geographical variation that was not explained by genetic distance. However, social proximity covaried with similarities in acoustic -but not visual -displays. Our findings raise relevant questions about the mechanisms of social learning in audio-visual sexual signalling.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do social interactions predict similarities in audio-visual courtship signals in spotted bowerbirds?

Knoester,

Spezie,

Mann

et al. 2022

Proceedings of the 10th Convention of the European Acoustics Association Forum Acusticum 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Part 2: Song stability Oscine birds can either learn their song repertoire through social learning during fixed stages like Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata) or continuously adapt and change their song structure throughout their lives as seen in Barn Swallows (Hirundo rusticai) (Hensel et al 2022;Zipple et al 2019). This learning of song production occurs through an efferent pathway that allows individuals to learn and develop their own personal repertoires by listening to close conspecifics (Scharff and Nottebohm 1991;Nordeen and Nordeen, 1993).…”

Section: 24: Phrase Predictabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

An Investigation of the Song Complexity of Toutouwai (Petroica longipes)

Hartshorne

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<p>In this thesis, I examined the complexity of song repertoires in the endemic North Island robin (Petroica longipes), a highly territorial species. Focussing on the males of a robin population found in Zealandia, Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, I first tested the territorial function of song complexity by looking for evidence of the dear enemy effect (reduced aggressiveness in an individual’s response to neighbouring heterospecifics compared to non-neighbours) within my study population. There was a significant difference in the responses to neighbour and non-neighbour songs in a playback experiment, supporting the dear enemy effect. I then investigated the overall complexity of the songs of males within the study population by identifying and evaluating the phrases that they use within songs. I show that that North Island robins have rich song repertoires that appear to be stable across time for this population, based on data from 2015 and 2021/ 2022. However, based on the measures of song complexity used within my thesis, there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that more complex songs are correlated with a male’s reproductive success.</p>

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Divergent tunes: exploring dialects in Great Reed Warbler song pattern

Węgrzyn,

Tańska,

Leniowski

et al. 2024

J Ornithol

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In most songbirds, there is geographic variability in their songs, and for some of these species, populations display unique vocal characteristics that can be used to identify the origin of individual birds, i.e., dialects. Although studies indicate the significant role of dialects in bird vocal behaviour, the majority of species remain largely unexplored in this regard. In this paper, we investigate whether dialects occur in the vocal behaviour of the Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)—a model species in studies of birdsong and sexual selection. In this study, we analyze the vocal behaviour of ten Great Reed Warbler populations, ranging in distance from 6 to 410 km. We test the hypotheses that (i) populations of the Great Reed Warbler differ in dialects and (ii) differences in dialects between populations increase with the distance that separates their breeding grounds. The results of our research confirmed both our hypotheses. Each population had characteristic whistles or their specific combinations, allowing males to be assigned to the population they originated from based on their song. We also demonstrated that the between-population variation in syllable repertoire increases with the distance between populations. The greatest similarities in the repertoire composition occur among populations separated by less than 50 km which may result from individuals moving between closely located populations, thereby sharing vocalisations. As the distance between populations increases, the likelihood of individual migration decreases, which in turn favors the emergence of specific and distinct elements of the song for each population.

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Microgeographical variation in birdsong: Savannah sparrows exhibit microdialects in an island population

Cited by 10 publications

References 57 publications

Do social interactions predict similarities in audio-visual courtship signals in spotted bowerbirds?

Do social interactions predict similarities in audio-visual courtship signals in spotted bowerbirds?

An Investigation of the Song Complexity of Toutouwai (Petroica longipes)

Divergent tunes: exploring dialects in Great Reed Warbler song pattern

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