Motor constraints on vocal production impose a trade-off between trill rate and frequency bandwidth within birdsong. We tested whether domesticated canary (Serinus canaria) females, reared either in acoustic isolation or in aviary conditions, had a preference for broad bandwidth songs with artificially increased syllable rates. The copulation solicitation display (CSD) was used as an index of female preference. As predicted, both naive and experienced females were especially responsive to syllables with a broad bandwidth emitted at an artificially increased rate. Female preference for supernormal stimuli provide support for the honest-signalling hypothesis and our results are consistent with recent findings indicating that production of song phrases maximizing both bandwidth and syllable rate may be a reliable indicator of male physical or behavioural qualities. We suggest that female preference for vocal emissions, which simultaneously maximize these two parameters, could be a widespread pattern within songbirds.

One of the main characteristics of human societies is the extensive degree of cooperation among individuals. Cooperation is an elaborate phenomenon, also found in non-human primates during laboratory studies and field observations of animal hunting behaviour, among other things. Some authors suggest that the pressures assumed to have favoured the emergence of social intelligence in primates are similar to those that may have permitted the emergence of complex cognitive abilities in some bird species such as corvids and psittacids. In the wild, parrots show cooperative behaviours such as bi-parental care and mobbing. In this study, we tested cooperative problem solving in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Our birds were tested using several experimental setups to explore the different levels of behavioural organisation between participants, differing in temporal and spatial complexity. In our experiments, African grey parrots were able to act simultaneously but mostly failed during the delay task, maybe because of a lack of inhibitory motor response. Confronted with the possibility to adapt their behaviour to the presence or absence of a partner, they showed that they were able to coordinate their actions. They also collaborated, acting complementarily in order to solve tasks, but they were not able to place themselves in the partner's role.

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Previous research has shown that acoustic experiences in early life influence song preferences in female domesticated canaries, Serinus canaria. We do not know, however, if they can modify song preferences in adulthood. In the experiments reported here, one group of young female domesticated canaries was reared in acoustic isolation in early life without song tutoring, while two groups were tutored with a playback song (one with wild canary song and one with domesticated canary song). We tested these three groups of females once they had reached adulthood, prior to breeding, using copulation-solicitation displays as an index of their song preferences. The females were then placed in an aviary with males during the breeding period, after which they were retested. We observed that the song preferences of females reared in acoustic isolation and those tutored with wild canary song had changed. These females were able to develop new song preferences in adult life. These results are discussed in relation to current views on song preferences and sexual imprinting.

We describe a new assay for measuring the response to song playback by adult female domesticated canaries, Serinus canaria. We tested song perception and discrimination by measuring the frequency of particular female calls (`single calls') given in response to male song playbacks. We observed that females responded differently to songs of different species (canaries vs. pine siskin, Carduelis spinus) and to songs of different canary strains (domesticated vs. wild canaries). In addition, females were especially responsive to songs containing a particular type of song phrase (`A' phrases). This new assay provides equivalent results to the standard method (copulation solicitation displays) traditionally used to assess female song preferences. Our new assay has the advantage that it allows one to measure female song responsiveness without having to use estradiol implants and during both long and short day photoperiods. However, females responded differently in long and short days. We suggest that, by calling, females could both provide information about their sexual interest and attract the attention of particular males.

Hematodinium sp. is a parasitic dinoflagellate infecting the blue crab Callinectes sapidus and other crustaceans. PCR-based assays are currently being used to identify infections in crabs that would have been undetectable by traditional microscopic examination. We therefore sought to define the limits of quantitative PCR (qPCR) detection within the context of field collection protocols. We present a qPCR assay based on the Hematodinium sp. 18S rRNA gene that can detect 10 copies of the gene per reaction. Analysis of a cell dilution series vs. defined numbers of a cloned Hematodinium sp. 18S rRNA gene suggests a copy number of 10 000 per parasite and predicts a sensitivity of 0.001 cell equivalents. In practice, the assays are based on analysis of 1% of the DNA extracted from 200 µl of serum, yielding a theoretical detection limit of 5 cells ml -1 hemolymph, assuming that 1 cell is present per sample. When applied to a limited field survey of blue crabs collected in Maryland coastal bays from May to August 2005, 24 of 128 crabs (18.8%) were identified as positive for Hematodinium sp. infection using qPCR. In comparison, only 6 of 128 crabs (4.7%) were identified as positive using traditional hemolymph microscopic examination. The qPCR method also detected the parasite in gill, muscle, heart and hepatopancreas tissues, with 17.2% of the crabs showing infection in at least one of these tissues. Importantly, it is now possible to enumerate parasites within defined quantities of crab tissue, which permits collection of more detailed information on the epizootiology of the pathogen.