The effect of mate removal on dawn singing behaviour in male pied bush chats

Sethi, Vinaya Kumar; Bhatt, Dinesh; Kumar, Amit

doi:10.1093/czoolo/57.1.72

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…It therefore still needs to be established for a given species whether longer removal would lead to song rates that are as high as those observed during the dawn chorus. While mate removal affected song rates during the day, in several species it did not affect song rates at dawn (black-capped chickadee [42]; pied bush chat Saxicola caprata [62]; chipping sparrow Spizella passerina [63] ; willow tit Parus montanus [64]; Adelaide's warbler [46]). In these experiments, males had been separated from their mate for the entire night either under natural conditions or when their mate had been experimentally removed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A dawn and dusk chorus will emerge if males sing in the absence of their mate

Schlicht,

Santema

et al. 2023

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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The spring dawn and dusk chorus of birds is a widespread phenomenon, yet its origin remains puzzling. We propose that a dawn and dusk chorus will inevitably arise if two criteria are met: (1) females leave their roost later in the morning and go to roost earlier in the evening than their mate, and (2) males sing more when separated from their mate. Previous studies on blue tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus ) support the first criterion. We here report that males sing at a higher rate whenever they are separated from their mate and that song rate increases with the duration of female absence. These findings can explain the existence of the dawn and dusk chorus in blue tits, and they can explain why the dawn chorus is more pronounced than the dusk chorus, as is typically observed. An exhaustive literature search provides support for both criteria of the ‘absent mate’ hypothesis in several passerine birds. We found no evidence contradicting the hypothesis. The new hypothesis is not inconsistent with many of the existing hypotheses about dawn singing, but may be a more general explanation for the occurrence of a dawn and dusk chorus. We describe how the ‘absent mate’ hypothesis leads to testable predictions about daily and seasonal variation in song output.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A dawn and dusk chorus will emerge if males sing in the absence of their mate

Schlicht,

Santema

et al. 2023

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…That is, males used dawn singing to communicate with their close neighbours, to announce and assess their strength or willingness to defend the territory, or to challenge neighbours on a daily basis throughout the breeding season, as reported in social dynamic hypothesis by Staicer et al (1996). Female removal experiment in Pied Bush Chat has also indicated that males direct their dawn chorus to their neighbours instead of their mates (Sethi et al, 2011a). Recent studies have also suggested that birds may use their songs in a more complex or subtle way to interact with specific receivers, particularly in a territorial system where the relationships between territorial neighbours could be mediated by songs used during close-range interaction (McGregor, 1993;Smith, 1997;Todt and Naguib, 2000).…”

Section: Fig 1 Spectrogram Of a 60 Sec Segment Of Dawn Song Bout Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dawn singing behavior of a tropical bird species, the Pied Bush Chat Saxicola caprata

Sethi

Bhatt

Kumar

2012

JANS

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This paper aims to study the structure and pattern of dawn song in a tropical avian species, the Pied Bush Chat (Saxicola caprata) in Haridwar (29 0 55' N, 78 0 08' E; Uttarakhand, India) in 2009. Males delivered complex dawn chorus on daily basis during only breeding season (February to July). The dawn song bout was made up of a number of distinct sections called song types. Each song type consisted of a series of similar or dissimilar units referred to as elements. Song type length averaged 1.43±0.23 sec and did not differ significantly among males. The average number and types of elements in a song type were observed 8.15±1.64 and 8.01±1.56, respectively.In more than 80% of observations, song types were delivered with immediate variety and males did not follow any definite sequential pattern of song delivery. Males sang continuously for about 30 min at high rates during dawn. Males performed continuous dawn singing throughout the breeding season and seemed to interact vocally through counter-singing for extended period. Observations suggest that dawn song delivery in Pied Bush Chat plays an important role in maintenance and adjustment of social relationship among neighbouring males.

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“…However, the experimental removal of a mate does not affect the intensity of dawn songs as shown in studies with male pied bush chats ( Saxicola caprata ) (Sethi et al. ) and male chipping sparrows ( Spizella passerina ) (Liu ). Territorial defense is certainly an important function of the dawn chorus of many species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Social functions vary even within species: for example, attracting, stimulating, and/or guarding mates appear to be important for the dawn chorus of male eastern kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) where the intensity of male dawn singing increases when there is a high abundance of fertile females (Sexton et al 2007), and black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) where males sang significantly longer following mate removal (Otter & Ratcliffe 1993). However, the experimental removal of a mate does not affect the intensity of dawn songs as shown in studies with male pied bush chats (Saxicola caprata) (Sethi et al 2011) and male chipping sparrows (Spizella passerina) (Liu 2004). Territorial defense is certainly an important function of the dawn chorus of many species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Dawn Singing Intensity of the Male Brownish‐Flanked Bush Warbler: Effects of Territorial Insertions and Number of Neighbors

et al. 2014

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The dawn chorus is a period of peak singing activity of many songbirds. Numerous studies have sought to understand this widespread phenomenon, and many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the dawn chorus. The social dynamics hypothesis proposes that dawn singing plays an important role in the announcement of territorial occupancy and the regulation of social relationships between males; it predicts that the dawn chorus vocal behavior varies with changes in social relationships. In this study, we tested the influence of territorial insertions and the number of neighbors, on the intensity of the brownish‐flanked bush warbler (Cettia fortipes)'s dawn singing. We found that simulated territorial insertions (playback) caused the males to increase their dawn singing significantly the next day, and males that had many neighbors exhibited more intense dawn singing than did males with few neighbors. Our study provides evidence that dawn singing plays an important role in the announcement of territorial occupancy and the regulation of the social relationships between the males.

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The effect of mate removal on dawn singing behaviour in male pied bush chats

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

A dawn and dusk chorus will emerge if males sing in the absence of their mate

A dawn and dusk chorus will emerge if males sing in the absence of their mate

Dawn singing behavior of a tropical bird species, the Pied Bush Chat Saxicola caprata

Dawn Singing Intensity of the Male Brownish‐Flanked Bush Warbler: Effects of Territorial Insertions and Number of Neighbors

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