Song Sharing in Neighboring and Non‐Neighboring Thrush Nightingales (Luscinia luscinia) and its Implications for Communication

Abstract

In many passerines, males have repertoires of different songs of which some songs are often shared with other males. Sharing of song repertoires among males can provide insights into the context in which songs were acquired and on the role of song repertoires in inter‐ and intrasexual communication. Here we studied repertoire sharing in male territorial thrush nightingales (Luscinia luscinia). We compared male vocal repertoires of the basic song components, full songs, and the sequencing of songs in a bout. The results show that males differed significantly in the size of their song repertoires but not in the size of the repertoire of basic song components. Moreover, they shared almost all (80%) the repertoire of song components but only 30% of their song types. Neighboring males shared significantly more song types than did non‐neighboring males but interestingly they did not share more basic song components than non‐neighboring males. These results show that the repertoire of basic song components is under much less sexual selection than the size of song repertoires. Sharing of song repertoires among neighbors presumably results from repertoire conversion over time and from males returning to their territories in the following season. Repertoire sharing then can be an indicator of territory tenure and thus it can be important in repelling rivals and in female choice.

How to identify dear enemies: the group signature in the complex song of the skylarkAlauda arvensis

“…Playback song type and crested lark Galerida cristata (Tretzel, 1965), and species with complex songs like the thrush nightingale Luscinia luscinia (Griessmann and Naguib, 2002) and the wedge-tailed sabrewing Campylopterus curvipennis (Gonzalez and Ornelas, 2005). Skylark songs exhibit microgeographic variation based on both significant differences in the syllable repertoire composition and in the phrase repertoire composition between individuals established in different locations.…”

“…In that respect, the skylark differs from other species, in which microdialects are based on the sequences of song components but not the basic song components themselves, e.g. the thrush nightingale (Griessmann and Naguib, 2002) and the greycheeked fulvetta Alcippe morrisonia (Shieh, 2004). The values of coefficient of similarity between the repertoires of strangers in our study (RS=0.19±0.01) are comparable with those obtained in similar distance range in other passerine species, such as the thrush nightingale [RS=0.27±0.01 (Griessmann and Naguib, 2002)] or the chaffinch [Fringilla coelebs; RS=0.3 on average at 2·km (Lachlan and Slater, 2003)].…”

“…the thrush nightingale (Griessmann and Naguib, 2002) and the greycheeked fulvetta Alcippe morrisonia (Shieh, 2004). The values of coefficient of similarity between the repertoires of strangers in our study (RS=0.19±0.01) are comparable with those obtained in similar distance range in other passerine species, such as the thrush nightingale [RS=0.27±0.01 (Griessmann and Naguib, 2002)] or the chaffinch [Fringilla coelebs; RS=0.3 on average at 2·km (Lachlan and Slater, 2003)]. We carried out a playback experiment to test the hypothesis that the phrases shared by all individuals from a given location supported a group signature.…”

“…Thus, comparison of repertoire size, estimated in number of syllables, between the skylark and these other species is difficult. Compared with the few species where the repertoire was estimated in number of different syllables produced, like the meadow pipit Anthus pratensis [3-6 syllables (Elfström, 1990)], house finch Carpodacus mexicanus [25-40 different syllables (Mundinger, 1982)], thrush nightingales [49 basic song components (Griessmann and Naguib, 2002)], or canary [81 syllables (Leitner et al, 2001)], the skylark produces a highly diversified and complex continuous song, containing more than 200 different syllables per song, with a total repertoire size of more than 300 syllables per individual.…”

“…Whole song types (e.g. Griessmann and Naguib, 2002), individual syllables (e.g. Isaac and Marler, 1963;Kreutzer, 1974) or groups of linked syllables (e.g.…”