Song-type matching between neighbouring song sparrows

Beecher, Michael D.; Campbell, Sarah; Burt, John M.; Hill, Christopher E.; Nordby, J. Cully

doi:10.1006/anbe.1999.1276

Cited by 183 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Moreover, subjects who continued to type match ('stayed on the type') responded more aggressively than did subjects who switched off type or stopped singing [18]. These results have been incorporated in a model of type matching [18,19,23] that guides the present study. In this model, initiating a type match is an aggressive escalation signal, staying on type maintains the threat intensity, and switching off type (or stopping singing) is a de-escalation signal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In their review, Searcy & Beecher [15] concluded that most attempts to demonstrate that song type matching is a threat signal may have failed precisely because it is an early-stage threat signal (usually given at a distance) which precedes the late-stage threat signals (such as soft song) that are given when the opponents are face to face. If it is true that song type matching is an early conventional signal of aggressive intent, then the experimental paradigms to date, which have used only a single high-level threat stimulus [15,19,22], will have been inadequate for determining whether song type matching reliably predicts subsequent escalation. What is needed is a design that begins with an initial low-level threat, allowing subjects to use song type matching as an early-stage threat, followed by an experimental escalation designed to see whether subjects will follow through on their initial threat.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…What is needed is a design that begins with an initial low-level threat, allowing subjects to use song type matching as an early-stage threat, followed by an experimental escalation designed to see whether subjects will follow through on their initial threat. The current experiment incorporates such a design (originally proposed by Beecher et al [19]). Figure 1.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Song type matching is an honest early threat signal in a hierarchical animal communication system

et al. 2013

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Aggressive encounters between animals often involve significant amounts of signalling before or in lieu of physical fights. When, as is often the case, these apparent threat signals are neither inherently costly nor inherently indicative of fighting ability, we should ask whether they are in fact honest signals, i.e. do they predict that escalation is imminent? While signalling theories have indicated that such 'conventional' threat signals can honestly predict escalation, attempts to gather supporting empirical evidence have mostly failed. For example, recent studies in songbirds of song type matching (replying to an opponent's song with the same song type he has just sung) have failed to confirm that it predicts an eventual attack by the signaller. In the present study of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), we tested the hypothesis that song type matching is an early threat signal in a hierarchical signalling system. We used an improved model-playback design that simulated an escalating intrusion onto the subject's territory: the simulated opponent first sang in hiding from the boundary before moving to the centre of the territory, where he revealed himself and continued to sing. We found that type matching beginning in the boundary phase and continuing into the escalation phase, or beginning immediately after the escalation, reliably predicted both subsequent escalated signalling (soft songs and wing waves) and subsequent attack on the model, supporting the hypothesis that type matching is a reliable early threat signal.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Song type matching is an honest early threat signal in a hierarchical animal communication system

et al. 2013

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“…In another experiment, we tested response to neighbor song by new neighbors twice during the breeding season: early, in April, and again a month and a half later (Beecher et al, 2000a). Early in the breeding season, new neighbors will have only recently established their territorial boundary, which may still be in dispute, and territorial skirmishes will have occurred recently or may still be occurring.…”

Section: Using Song Repertoires In Counter-singing Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The social interaction role of song in song sparrows: implications for signal design

Burt¹,

Beecher²

2008

CCBR

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Many territorial songbirds use singing as an interactive social signal to reduce inter-neighbor aggression. Communication theory predicts that territorial songbirds may use repertoires of signals to indicate graded levels of aggressive motivation. This theory is supported in song sparrows, a species that uses several different song-based signals such as song-type matching to escalate or de-escalate aggression during counter-singing interactions. However, birds cannot type match if they do not share the song type their rival is singing, raising the question of how they might signal aggression instead. We present evidence for two alternative signaling strategies that non-sharing neighbors could use to communicate aggressive motivation. In the first case, a bird may 'similarity match' a rival's song by singing the most similar song in his repertoire, even if he cannot type match. Another solution would be for neighbors to agree to treat specific pairs of non-similar types as matches by convention. The conventional match is potentially a new class of signal that territorial neighbors may use along with type and similarity matching to maintain a repertoire of aggressive motivation signals.

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“…Perhaps the most plausible hypothesis is that repertoires allow birds to match, or not do so, when countersinging with neighbours (e.g. Beecher et al 2000); this is less likely where the level of sharing is low, although birds may still 'match' with similar songs (Burt et al 2002). Interactive playback has been an important recent technical advance which is helping us to understand just how individuals use their songs in relation to one another (e.g.…”

Section: The Rôle Of Small Repertoiresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fifty years of bird song research: a case study in animal behaviour

Slater

2003

Animal Behaviour

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Song-type matching between neighbouring song sparrows

Cited by 183 publications

References 23 publications

Song type matching is an honest early threat signal in a hierarchical animal communication system

Song type matching is an honest early threat signal in a hierarchical animal communication system

The social interaction role of song in song sparrows: implications for signal design

Fifty years of bird song research: a case study in animal behaviour

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