1
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Sierro J, de Kort SR, Riebel K, Hartley IR. Female blue tits sing frequently: a sex comparison of occurrence, context, and structure of song. Behav Ecol 2022; 33:912-925. [PMID: 36382229 PMCID: PMC9639586 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arac044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In species with mutual mate choice, we should expect adaptive signaling in both sexes. However, the role of female sexual signals is generally understudied. A case in point is female birdsong that has received considerably less attention than male song. This holds even for well-studied species such as the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), an important model in evolutionary ecology. Although there have been anecdotal reports of female song from three populations, there are no quantitative studies on female song in this species. Here, we report systematic sampling from a population of individually marked blue tits over 3 years, revealing that females sang frequently throughout the sampling period. Notably, daytime singing of females occurred in functionally similar contexts as in males (agonistic, solo song, and alarm contexts) but females had lower song output than males and were not observed singing dawn song, while males showed long singing displays at dawn before copulations take place. Female and male song overlapped substantially in acoustic structure (i.e., same song types or peak frequency) but females had smaller individual song-type repertoires, shorter trills, and lower vocal consistency. Differential selection pressures related to functional differences in male and female song might explain the observed variation in acoustic structure. With the first quantitative study of female song in such a well-studied species, we hope to stimulate further investigations into the functions of female singing, especially in the Northern temperate zones where female song may have been overlooked, not only in this but perhaps in other monomorphic species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Selvino R de Kort
- Ecology and Environment Research Centre, Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, E437 John Dalton Building, Manchester Campus, Manchester, UK
| | - Katharina Riebel
- Institute of Biology (IBL), Leiden University, Room number 7.4.17, Sylvius Building, Sylviusweg 72, Leiden 2333 BE, The Netherlands
| | - Ian R Hartley
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, LEC Building, Lancaster, UK
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2
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Dargis L, Benedict L, Najar NA. Female bird song rates do not covary with population density in a North American species. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lorraine Dargis
- School of Biological Sciences University of Northern Colorado Greeley Colorado USA
| | - Lauryn Benedict
- Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology University of California Riverside Riverside California USA
| | - Nadje A. Najar
- Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology University of California Riverside Riverside California USA
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3
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Keenan EL, Odom KJ, Araya-Salas M, Horton KG, Strimas-Mackey M, Meatte MA, Mann NI, Slater PJB, Price JJ, Templeton CN. Breeding season length predicts duet coordination and consistency in Neotropical wrens (Troglodytidae). Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20202482. [PMID: 33323080 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals produce coordinated signals, but few are more striking than the elaborate male-female vocal duets produced by some tropical songbirds. Yet, little is known about the factors driving the extreme levels of vocal coordination between mated pairs in these taxa. We examined evolutionary patterns of duet coordination and their potential evolutionary drivers in Neotropical wrens (Troglodytidae), a songbird family well known for highly coordinated duets. Across 23 wren species, we show that the degree of coordination and precision with which pairs combine their songs into duets varies by species. This includes some species that alternate their song phrases with exceptional coordination to produce rapidly alternating duets that are highly consistent across renditions. These highly coordinated, consistent duets evolved independently in multiple wren species. Duet coordination and consistency are greatest in species with especially long breeding seasons, but neither duet coordination nor consistency are correlated with clutch size, conspecific abundance or vegetation density. These results suggest that tightly coordinated duets play an important role in mediating breeding behaviour, possibly by signalling commitment or coalition of the pair to mates and other conspecifics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily L Keenan
- College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Karan J Odom
- Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.,Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Marcelo Araya-Salas
- Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.,Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.,Recinto de Golfito, Universidad de Costa Rica, Golfito 60701, Costa Rica
| | - Kyle G Horton
- Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.,Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | | | - Megan A Meatte
- Department of Biology, Pacific University, Forest Grove, OR, USA
| | - Nigel I Mann
- Biology Department, The Glasgow Academy, Glasgow G12 8HE, UK
| | | | - J Jordan Price
- Department of Biology, St Mary's College of Maryland, St Mary's City, MD, USA
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4
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Mikula P, Valcu M, Brumm H, Bulla M, Forstmeier W, Petrusková T, Kempenaers B, Albrecht T. A global analysis of song frequency in passerines provides no support for the acoustic adaptation hypothesis but suggests a role for sexual selection. Ecol Lett 2020; 24:477-486. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Mikula
- Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 Praha12844Czech Republic
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Academy of Sciences Květná 8 Brno603 65Czech Republic
| | - Mihai Valcu
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary GeneticsMax Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard‐Gwinner‐Str. 7 Seewiesen82319Germany
| | - Henrik Brumm
- Communication and Social Behaviour GroupMax Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard‐Gwinner‐Str. 11 Seewiesen82319Germany
| | - Martin Bulla
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary GeneticsMax Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard‐Gwinner‐Str. 7 Seewiesen82319Germany
- Department of Ecology Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Praha16521Czech Republic
| | - Wolfgang Forstmeier
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary GeneticsMax Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard‐Gwinner‐Str. 7 Seewiesen82319Germany
| | - Tereza Petrusková
- Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 Praha12843Czech Republic
| | - Bart Kempenaers
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary GeneticsMax Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard‐Gwinner‐Str. 7 Seewiesen82319Germany
| | - Tomáš Albrecht
- Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 Praha12844Czech Republic
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Academy of Sciences Květná 8 Brno603 65Czech Republic
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