Repertoire sharing and song-post distance in nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos B.)

Hultsch, Henrike; Todt, Dietmar

doi:10.1007/bf00299828

Cited by 100 publications

(60 citation statements)

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“…As a formal definition, we characterized songs as belonging to the same song type when they differed in not more than three of approximately 10 element types in the first two sections of the song and included the same repetitive sections. This did not only allow reliable comparisons within one recording, but also comparisons of the singing of different birds ( [4,28]; see the electronic supplementary material, figure S1, for illustrations). The majority of song types could be assigned to catalogue songs, new song types were indexed and added to the catalogue.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of network analysis to study complex animal communication systems: a study on nightingale song

et al. 2014

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The singing of song birds can form complex signal systems comprised of numerous subunits sung with distinct combinatorial properties that have been described as syntax-like. This complexity has inspired inquiries into similarities of bird song to human language; but the quantitative analysis and description of song sequences is a challenging task. In this study, we analysed song sequences of common nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) by means of a network analysis. We translated long nocturnal song sequences into networks of song types with song transitions as connectors. As network measures, we calculated shortest path length and transitivity and identified the 'small-world' character of nightingale song networks. Besides comparing network measures with conventional measures of song complexity, we also found a correlation between network measures and age of birds. Furthermore, we determined the numbers of in-coming and out-going edges of each song type, characterizing transition patterns. These transition patterns were shared across males for certain song types. Playbacks with different transition patterns provided first evidence that these patterns are responded to differently and thus play a role in singing interactions. We discuss potential functions of the network properties of song sequences in the framework of vocal leadership. Network approaches provide biologically meaningful parameters to describe the song structure of species with extremely large repertoires and complex rules of song retrieval.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of network analysis to study complex animal communication systems: a study on nightingale song

et al. 2014

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“…Zero distance means that the males in comparison were recorded at the same nest box with few days apart (they were likely settled in neighboring boxes after several interaction). Todt, 1981;Laiolo and Tella, 2005;Logue and Forstmeier, 2008). Such mechanisms would predict a higher degree of similarity between males that potentially interact vocally than between males that are separated in time and space and thus have no chance to take over syllables from each other.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although previous analyses used similarity matrixes that disregarded the relative frequency of syllables (e.g. Briefer et al, 2010;Hultsch and Todt, 1981), we applied a method that considers this frequency of detection because the resulting similarity index is more relevant from the listener perspective. For instance, two males that share 50% of their syllables, but sing these shared syllables only occasionally, would be perceived by a listener as having highly different song composition.…”

Section: Association Between Males Based On Syllable Sharingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specific song organization allows syllable sharing, which can be important for males in their competition for mates, as the amount of syllables shared with neighbors can influence the male's territory tenure (e.g. Beecher et al, 2000;Briefer et al, 2010;Hultsch and Todt, 1981;Laiolo and Tella, 2005). In addition, selection for singing the same song content might also allow females to directly compare the song performance of males (Logue and Forstmeier, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The relationship between syllable repertoire similarity and pairing success in a passerine bird species with complex song

Garamszegi

Zsebők

Török

2012

Journal of Theoretical Biology

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a b s t r a c tRepertoire size, i.e. the number of unique song elements that an individual possesses, is thought to be an important target of female preference. However, the use of repertoire size reflects how researchers work with complex songs; while it does not necessary describe biological functions, as listeners of song may also rely on song composition. Specific syllables may have coherent consequences for mate attraction because they are costly to produce, mediate syllable sharing or indicate the dialect of origin. We tested for the relationship between song composition and pairing success in the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis ). We applied a tree-clustering method to hierarchically classify males based on the degree of repertoire overlap, and then used a phylogenetic approach to assess the degree by which pairing speed matches the hierarchically structured song data. We found that males using similar syllables also find a breeding partner at a similar speed. Partitioning the variance components of pairing speed, we detected that the consequences of particular syllables for mating are repeatable across males. When assessing the role of repertoire similarity in mediating direct syllable sharing, we derived a positive relationship between the physical distance between pairs of males and their repertoire overlap implying that neighboring males avoid copying each other's song. Finally, we were unable to demonstrate that syllables related to higher mating success are more common in the population, which would support mechanisms based on female preference for local songs. Our results imply that individual-specific song organization may be relevant for sexual selection.

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“…However, there is little evidence to support this hypothesis, and such a conflict may only affect species with very large song repertoires (Stoddard 1996). The conflict between repertoire size and individual recognition is thought to occur because, as conspecific repertoires increase, (1) there is a greater number of options that individuals must learn to discriminate, (2) the assignment of identity could become harder owing to potentially higher levels of song type sharing (but see Hultsch & Todt 1981), and (3) the opportunities for learning how different individuals sing each song type decrease, because singers now sing many song types a few times each instead of singing a few song types many times each (reviewed in Stoddard 1996). In spite of these arguments, large song repertoires do not seem to impair the individual song recognition abilities of European robins, Erithacus rubecula (Bremond 1968;Brindley 1991), European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris (Gentner & Hulse 1998), or thrush nightingales, Luscinia luscinia (Naguib & Todt 1998) and experiments in captivity have shown that birds have the potential to learn more songs than those to which they are exposed in natural conditions (Stoddard et al 1992).…”

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Relative threat and recognition ability in the responses of tropical mockingbirds to song playback

2007

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It has been suggested that individual recognition based on song may be constrained by repertoire size in songbirds with very large song repertoires. This hypothesis has been difficult to test because there are few studies on species with very large repertoires and because traditional experiments based on the dear enemy effect do not provide evidence against recognition. The tropical mockingbird, Mimus gilvus, is a cooperative breeder with very large song repertoires and stable territorial neighbourhoods. The social system of this species allowed us to test individual recognition based on song independently from the dear enemy effect by evaluating male response to playback of strangers, neighbours (from shared and unshared boundaries), co-males (i.e. other males in the same social group) and own songs. Although subjects did not show a dear enemy effect, they were less aggressive to co-males than to all other singers. Our results suggest that recognition in tropical mockingbirds (1) does not simply distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar singers, (2) requires a small sample of both songs and song types, (3) does not rely on individual-specific sequences of song types and (4) is not likely to rely on group-specific vocal signatures potentially available in cooperatively breeding groups. We conclude that this is a case of true recognition and suggest that the lack of a dear enemy effect in this and other species with large repertoires may relate to the role of song in mate attraction and the perception of neighbours as a threat to future paternity. Keywords dear enemy effect; individual recognition; Mimus gilvus; playback experiment; song repertoires; tropical mockingbird Many animals have evolved conspecific recognition abilities that allow them to direct costly behaviours to the appropriate targets. Individual recognition allows animals to invest preferentially in their own progeny in the presence of unrelated young (Beecher et al. 1981;Seddon & Vanheezik 1993;Leonard et al. 1997;Lefevre et al. 1998;Searby & Jouventin 2003), to find their mates in crowded environments (Lengagne et al. 2004), or to preferentially display altruistic acts towards those who have helped them in the past (Wilkinson 1988;Denault & McFarlane 1995). Individual recognition is important in territorial contexts where territory owners are expected to benefit from behaving less aggressively towards stable neighbours not likely to trespass than towards strangers trying to establish a new territory (dear enemy effect: Fisher 1954). Individual recognition may also allow territory owners to determine quickly when a neighbour has gone outside its typical territorial boundaries and is likely to represent a greater threat. The ability to recognize individual conspecifics on the basis of song is thought to be widespread among songbirds (Falls 1982;Temeles 1994; Stoddard 1996). Nevertheless, a few species have shown a weak dear enemy effect (Kroodsma 1976), a similar response to neighbours and strangers (Falls & d'Agincourt 1981;Beletsky 198...

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Repertoire sharing and song-post distance in nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos B.)

Cited by 100 publications

References 13 publications

The use of network analysis to study complex animal communication systems: a study on nightingale song

The use of network analysis to study complex animal communication systems: a study on nightingale song

The relationship between syllable repertoire similarity and pairing success in a passerine bird species with complex song

Relative threat and recognition ability in the responses of tropical mockingbirds to song playback

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