Song Versatility and Social Context in the Bobolink

Ammer, Frank K.; Michael, S.

doi:10.2307/1370202

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Correlations have been found between repertoire size and a number of individual and life history traits including condition (Kipper et al 2006), territory size (Buchanan and Catchpole 1997) and tenure (Hiebert et al 1989; but see Beecher et al 2000), parental effort (Buchanan and Catchpole 2000) and reproductive success (Potvin et al 2013). Furthermore, several studies have shown that song complexity (Järvi 1983;Nelson and Croner 1991;Ammer and Capp 1999) and specific acoustic characteristics (Catchpole 1983;Nagle and Couroux 2000) can change with motivation, season or age. For instance, it has been shown that migratory and sedentary Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) populations have different intra-and inter-sexual song characteristics (Collins et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The structure and context of male and female song in White-throated Dippers

et al. 2018

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Female song in birds is more widespread than previously thought but remains poorly studied. Relatively few researchers have compared the structure and function of female song with that of conspecific males, especially in non-duetting species. Here we investigate male and female song in the White-throated Dipper (Cinclus cinclus; hereafter 'Dipper'), a highly territorial and largely monogamous passerine with a complex song in both sexes. The songs of individually marked birds were recorded over a 3-year period in order to compare the acoustic structure and production of song in males and females at different stages of the breeding cycle. No differences were found in the complexity, frequency or temporal characteristics of male and female songs. However, unpaired males recorded early in the breeding season sang more complex songs than males that were paired up and nest-building or whose breeding attempts were underway, suggesting that male song is used for mate attraction. By contrast, females sang most often during aggressive encounters with birds from outside their territory. Furthermore, males sang throughout the breeding season, when they are highly territorial, whereas females rarely sang after laying had begun. Together, these results support findings from other species that song structure varies with context and suggest that female song in Dippers may be used primarily in mate or territory defence.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The structure and context of male and female song in White-throated Dippers

et al. 2018

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“…Within natural songs, we looked at both immediate (intra-song) and overall (eventual intraindividual) note variety. Shannon's equitability/ Shannon's entropy Ficken et al (1987), Ammer and Capp (1999), Molles and Vehrencamp (1999)…”

Section: Other Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spectrogram cross‐correlation can be used to measure the complexity of bird vocalizations

et al. 2021

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1. Birdsong is an important signal in mate attraction and territorial defence.Quantifying the complexity of these songs can shed light on individual fitness, sexual selection and behaviour. Several techniques have been used to quantify song complexity and be broadly categorized into measures of sequential variations and measures of diversity. However, these methods are unable to account for important acoustic features like the frequency bandwidth and the variety in the spectro-temporal shape of notes which are an integral part of these vocal signals. This study proposes a new complexity method that considers intra-song note variability and calculates a weighted index for birdsongs using spectral cross-correlation.2. We first compared previously described methods to understand their advantages and limitations based on the factors that would affect the complexity of songs.We then developed a new method, Note Variability Index (NVI), which incorporates the spectral features of notes to quantify complexity. This method alleviates the need for manual classification of notes that can be error-prone. We used spectrogram cross-correlation to compare notes within a song and used the output values to quantify song complexity.3. To evaluate the efficacy of the new method, we generated synthetic songs to caricature extremes in song complexity and compared selected conventional complexity methods along with the NVI. We provide case-specific limitations of these methods. Additionally, to examine the efficacy of this new method in real-world scenarios, we used natural birdsongs from multiple species across the globe with varying song structures to compare conventional methods with NVI. 4. To our knowledge, NVI is the only song complexity method that captures the variation of spectro-temporal shapes of the notes in songs where the conventional methods fail to distinguish between similar song structures with different note types. Furthermore, as NVI does not need a manual classification of notes, it can be easily implemented for any type of birdsong with existing sound analysis software; it is quick, avoids the possible subjectivity in note classification and can be automated for large datasets.

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“…У боболинка Dolichonyx oryzivorus разнообразие пения увеличилось, когда территориальным самцам предъявляли помещенную в клетку самку. При этом разнообразие пения не менялось, если самцу аналогичным образом предъявляли другого самца (Ammer, Capp, 1999). Похожим образом вели себя самцы другого вида из того же семейства Трупиалов Icteridae -красноплечие трупиалы.…”

Section: размер репертуара и разнообразие пенияunclassified

The communicative value of complex singing in passerine birds

Опаев

2021

Povolžskij èkologičeskij žurnal

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Birdsong is one of the most complex signals in the animal world, as it may consist of many different sounds grouped according to certain rules. Singing acts as a distant signal, indicating, e.g., the species and gender identity of the singer. However, territorial songbirds also use singing as an interactive social signal during territorial disputes, as well while interacting with female. In these contexts, males vary the type and timing of their songs to convey graded information about their motivational state, and those variations can play a role in communication. In this review, we considered how male songbirds vary their singing in territorial context. To study such variations, researchers usually simulated territorial intrusion by broadcasting conspecific singing in territories, including singing modified in a manner necessary for the researcher. For comparison, we considered briefly how singing vary in intersexual context. The author of the paper focuses on the role of singing complexity in communication. Therefore, not all known context-dependent changes in singing are considered, but only those related to “complexity”: the diversity of song/sound types and the transitional patterns of different song/sound types in the course of singing. Our review has shown that males change their singing when they detect environmental changes such as the appearance of a female or a competitor as follows: 1) song rate increases, 2) syllable rate increases, 3) song-type switching rate increases, 4) song-type diversity increases (i.e., the observed repertoire size), and 5) longer and more complex songs are predominantly used. In some species, the song bout organization may also change, but the data is still scarce. Typically, one or more, but not all the aforementioned acoustic behaviors have been found in a given song-bird species. All these behaviors (tactics) come down to a single strategy, namely: maximizing the acoustic diversity over a short period of time (e.g., several minutes), that is, increasing the number of different song and/or note types. The proximate causes of how the increased acoustic diversity work in the territorial competition context might lie in a sensory, or perceptual bias of the receiver. Namely, habituation should occur to repeated presentation of the same song type faster than to presentation of different song types. Therefore, by vocalizing more diversely, males more effectively influence the signal recipient’s behavior.

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Song Versatility and Social Context in the Bobolink

Cited by 13 publications

References 10 publications

The structure and context of male and female song in White-throated Dippers

The structure and context of male and female song in White-throated Dippers

Spectrogram cross‐correlation can be used to measure the complexity of bird vocalizations

The communicative value of complex singing in passerine birds

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