Song sharing and repertoire size in the sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus: changes within and between years

Nicholson, Joanne S.; Buchanan, Katherine L.; Marshall, Rupert C.; Catchpole, Clive K.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.04.006

Cited by 44 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…As adult blackbirds have been observed to incorporate new motifs (Messmer & Messmer, 1956;Thielcke, 1961), they may have the option to increase their repertoires also later in life. However, even the addition of new element types does not necessarily lead to a repertoire increase: in some other species a large turnover of elements between years has been observed, meaning that new elements are included, while old elements are dropped (Nicholson et al, 2007). In a very small sample of blackbirds, we also observed a substantial repertoire turnover between males' first and second breeding season with comparably small increases in repertoire size .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Song repertoire size correlates with measures of body size in Eurasian blackbirds

Hesler¹,

Mundry²,

Sacher³

et al. 2012

Behav

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In most oscine bird species males possess a repertoire of different song patterns. The size of these repertoires is assumed to serve as an honest signal of male quality. The Eurasian blackbird's (Turdus merula) song contains a large repertoire of different element types with a flexible song organisation. Here we investigated whether repertoire size in Eurasian blackbirds correlates with measures of body size, namely length of wing, 8th primary, beak and tarsus. So far, very few studies have investigated species with large repertoires and a flexible song organisation in this context. We found positive correlations, meaning that larger males had larger repertoires. Larger males may have better fighting abilities and, thus, advantages in territorial defence. Larger structural body size may also reflect better conditions during early development. Therefore, under the assumption that body size is linked to overall male quality, our results are in accordance with the hypothesis that repertoire size represents an honest signal in Eurasian blackbirds that has evolved in response to sexual selection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Song repertoire size correlates with measures of body size in Eurasian blackbirds

Hesler¹,

Mundry²,

Sacher³

et al. 2012

Behav

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“…A paired test revealed that males increased their repertoire, and thus song diversity, between successive years. Other studies on various bird species showed that the repertoire increases with age or at least between the first two breeding seasons (Nottebohm & Nottebohm 1978;Hiebert et al 1989;Lampe & Espmark 1994;Gil et al 2001;Forstmeier et al 2006;Kiefer et al 2006;Nicholson et al 2007). A large repertoire and high song diversity may thus reflect male age and indirectly indicate good genes that enabled the male to survive (Kokko & Lindstrom 1996;Kokko 1998;Brooks & Kemp 2001;Jennions et al 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A distinct reed bunting dawn song and its relation to extrapair paternity

et al. 2009

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“…However, this cannot account for individuals with a broad response range or with two response peaks to both parental coo types. Another possibility is that response tendencies remain plastic until after dispersal and territory establishment, which allows for the adjustment to one or more neighbours through learning when adult (as can also happen in song production learning, McGregor & Krebs 1989;Beecher et al 1994;Nelson 2000;Nicholson et al 2007). In this case, variation in individual response characteristics could relate to the number and features of neighbours which might be learned during territorial interactions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male territorial vocalizations and responses are decoupled in an avian hybrid zone

Hartog

Slabbekoorn

Cate

2008

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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A core area of speciation research concerns the coevolution of species-specific signals and the selective sensitivity to such signals. Signals and responses to them should be tuned to each other, to be effective in intraspecific communication. Hybrid zones are ideal to study the presence of such 'behavioural coupling' and the mechanisms governing it, and this has rarely been done. Our study examines acoustic signals of males and their response to them in the context of territorial interactions in a natural hybrid zone between two dove species, Streptopelia vinacea and Streptopelia capicola. Male signals are important in hybrid zone dynamics as they are essential for territory establishment, which is crucial for successful reproduction. We tested whether the response of individual male hybrids is linked to how similar their own signal is to the playback signal. We did not find evidence for behavioural coupling. The combined evidence from the low level of response to hybrid and heterospecific signals outside the hybrid zone and a lack of coupling within the hybrid zone suggests that perceptual learning may explain our results. Learning to respond to locally abundant signals may be the best individual strategy and is likely to contribute to the maintenance of a hybrid zone.

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Song sharing and repertoire size in the sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus: changes within and between years

Cited by 44 publications

References 48 publications

Song repertoire size correlates with measures of body size in Eurasian blackbirds

Song repertoire size correlates with measures of body size in Eurasian blackbirds

A distinct reed bunting dawn song and its relation to extrapair paternity

Male territorial vocalizations and responses are decoupled in an avian hybrid zone

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