What exactly is ‘local song’ in a population of ortolan buntings with a common dialect?

Osiejuk, Tomasz S.; Bielecka, Agnieszka; Skierczyński, Michał

doi:10.1007/s10164-011-0306-9

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Thus, some other hypothesis is necessary to explain the delayed song learning that promotes dialect development in this species. Our results also raise important questions about why male dickcissels respond equally aggressively to local and to foreign dialects while territorial males in so many other species (Bradley et al, 2013;McGregor, 1983;Osiejuk et al, 2012) respond more aggressively to local song than to foreign song.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…If this is the case, territorial individuals should respond more aggressively to a foreign dialect than a local dialect. However, this prediction is not typically met in playback studies (Lemon, ; Osiejuk, Bielecka, & Skierczynski, ; Podos, ), and so, the deceptive mimicry mechanism is unlikely. However, a small number of studies present evidence that could be interpreted as support for the predictions of deceptive mimicry (Baker, Thompson, Sherman, & Cunningham, ; Balaban, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Male territorial aggression does not drive conformity to local vocal culture in a passerine bird

et al. 2017

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In many songbird species, young individuals learn songs from neighbors and then settle nearby, thus creating neighborhoods of conformity to local vocal culture. In some species, individuals appear to postpone song learning until after dispersal, possibly to facilitate conformity to local dialects. Despite decades of study, we still lack a consensus regarding the selective pressures driving this delayed song learning. Two common hypothetical benefits to conformity, and thus delayed song learning, are rooted in territorial interactions; individuals preferentially produce local song either to avoid detection as new arrivals (deceptive mimicry) or to be more effectively recognized as conspecific territory holders. The dickcissel (Spiza americana) is an ideal species in which to study these hypotheses. Males of this species appear to delay song learning until they arrive at their first adult territory, each individual sings a single song type, and conformity to the local song culture is high. Using playback, we contradicted both of the territorial hypotheses described above; male dickcissels did not respond differentially to local vs foreign song playback treatment. We are confident in this lack of difference because dickcissels clearly responded less strongly to a third treatment, neighbor song, than to the other two treatments, demonstrating sufficient power in our experimental design (and providing the first evidence of the dear‐enemy effect in dickcissels). Our results raise the question of why dickcissels respond equally aggressively to both local and foreign songs when other bird species often show reduced aggression toward foreign song. If reduced aggression to foreign song is not ubiquitous in species that achieve conformity through delayed learning, then selection from aggressive territorial interaction seems unlikely to be a general explanation for such delayed learning. Reduced aggression in response to foreign songs in other species may be due to reduced exposure to the stimulus of foreign song or to different cost‐benefit trade‐offs when responding to songs that deviate from the local average.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male territorial aggression does not drive conformity to local vocal culture in a passerine bird

et al. 2017

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“…However, twenty years of research on a continuous and abundant population from Western Poland has revealed no age‐related changes in repertoire size, contents or overall song diversity (e.g. Skierczyński & Osiejuk, ; Osiejuk, Bielecka & Skierczyński, ; Jakubowska & Osiejuk, ; own unpubl. data).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Songbird presumed to be age‐limited learner may change repertoire size and composition throughout their life

et al. 2019

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Songbirds learn to sing by imitating their conspecific songs through social learning. It is commonly thought that in species with small repertoires, so‐called crystallization of the song repertoire takes place before the first breeding attempt and afterwards their repertoires remain unchanged. However, the number of studies in which individual song repertoires have been tracked longitudinally under natural conditions is still small. The ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana) is a small Eurasian passerine species. Studies on this species have shown that males have small song repertoires (usually 2–3), share the same final phrase within a local dialect area, and their repertoires remain unchanged during their lifetimes. We studied the whole, isolated Norwegian population of this species with 100–150 individually marked males. We compared repertoire sizes and contents using cross‐sectional and longitudinal approaches. We focused on marked males aged 2–10 years and recorded in up to five breeding seasons between 2001 and 2006. There was no local dialect because songs with different final phrases occurred both within and between males. Repertoire size varied between 1 and 24 (4.7 ± 3.4) song types per male. Longitudinal analysis showed an increase in repertoire size in 29% and a decrease in 21% of males. Males whose repertoires remained the same in size between years often substantially changed in contents. New song types appeared in almost 70% of males, and over 30% of males started singing new syllable types after the second calendar year. In almost 50% of males, new song types appeared that were built as new combinations of syllables shown in previous years. In 30% of males, the song complexity increased with age. Simultaneously, over 60% of males selectively ceased singing some song types. We suggest that these repertoire alterations are linked to the isolation and fragmentation of this population, which may affect song learning patterns through increased breeding dispersal and a strongly male‐biased sex ratio. Similar studies from abundant and continuous populations of the species are needed to test this idea.

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“…Both the initial and final local phrases of experimentally manipulated songs increase the responsiveness of males more than full foreign song (Osiejuk et al. ). One possible hint for explaining this phenomenon comes from syrinx morphology and biomechanics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has recently been shown that despite its within-population homogeneity, the final song phrase is not the only signal of 'locality'. Both the initial and final local phrases of experimentally manipulated songs increase the responsiveness of males more than full foreign song (Osiejuk et al 2012). One possible hint for explaining this phenomenon comes from syrinx morphology and biomechanics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Frequency of Shared Song Types Enables Neighbour‐Stranger Discrimination in a Songbird Species with Small Song Repertoire

Osiejuk

2014

Ethology

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Acoustic Neighbour‐Stranger (N‐S) discrimination is widespread in birds and has evolved to settle territorial disputes with low costs. N‐S discrimination was found both in song‐learning oscines and non‐song‐learning bird taxa, irrespective of the repertoire sizes they have. Therefore, it seems that more than just a single mechanism enable N‐S discrimination. Species with larger repertoires, where males have unique phrases or syllables may rely on such interindividual differences. The majority of birds have rather small repertoires, which often are shared among neighbours. In this case, males are facing the problem of individual recognition when rivals produce songs, at least superficially, identical. To better understand the acoustic basis of N‐S discrimination in species with small and shared repertoires, I studied the ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana). Males of this small oscine species are able to N‐S discrimination based on a single song rendition when presented in a playback experiment, regardless of song‐type diversity and song‐sharing level within a particular population. It was also found that songs of the same type sung by different males differ in the frequency of the initial song phrases and these differences persist over years. Here, I tested whether males are able to discriminate among the natural songs and the artificially modified songs of their neighbours in which the frequency was experimentally changed by relatively small value in comparison with the variation range found in this population. Subjects responded significantly more aggressively to the songs with an artificially modified frequency, suggesting that males treat such songs as having come from the repertoire of a non‐neighbour. These results confirm an earlier prediction that differences in the frequency of shared song types enable N‐S discrimination. The study presents one of the possible mechanisms enabling N‐S discrimination in songbirds with small repertoires and stress the role of within‐song‐type variation, which is still understudied song characteristic.

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What exactly is ‘local song’ in a population of ortolan buntings with a common dialect?

Cited by 7 publications

References 29 publications

Male territorial aggression does not drive conformity to local vocal culture in a passerine bird

Male territorial aggression does not drive conformity to local vocal culture in a passerine bird

Songbird presumed to be age‐limited learner may change repertoire size and composition throughout their life

Differences in Frequency of Shared Song Types Enables Neighbour‐Stranger Discrimination in a Songbird Species with Small Song Repertoire

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