Begging calls support offspring individual identity and recognition by zebra finch parents

Levréro, Florence; Durand, Laureline; Vignal, Clémentine; Blanc, Alain; Mathevon, Nicolas

doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2009.02.006

Cited by 39 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(83 reference statements)

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“…Conversely, this finding suggests that divergence in F0 is necessary for animals to be selective in their response, bringing insight into why F0 is among the traits that consistently differs the most across isolation and distress calls made by different individuals (Charrier et al 2002;Blumstein et al 2008;Lingle et al 2012) or species (Lingle et al 2007b;Teichroeb et al 2013). This finding is directly applicable to vertebrate vocalizations made in other contexts, such as begging (Levréro et al 2009), alarm (Fallow et al 2013), and courtship (Bass and McKibben 2003;Reby et al 2010) calls, for which F0 is also one of most differentiated and influential traits. These results are consistent with reports for alarm calls of birds, which suggest that similarity in F0 between species is critical for a response to calls of heterospecifics in the absence of prior experience and opportunities for learning (Fallow et al 2013).…”

Section: Species-specific Acoustic Traits and Shared Traitsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Deer Mothers Are Sensitive to Infant Distress Vocalizations of Diverse Mammalian Species

Lingle

Riede

2014

The American Naturalist

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Acoustic structure, behavioral context, and caregiver responses to infant distress vocalizations (cries) are similar across mammals, including humans. Are these similarities enough for animals to respond to distress vocalizations of taxonomically and ecologically distant species? We show that mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) mothers approach a speaker playing distress vocalizations of infant marmots (Marmota flaviventris), seals (Neophoca cinerea and Arctocephalus tropicalis), domestic cats (Felis catus), bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans), humans (Homo sapiens), and other mammals if the fundamental frequency (F0) falls or is manipulated to fall within the frequency range in which deer respond to young of their own species. They did not approach to predator sounds or to control sounds having the same F0 but a different structure. Our results suggest that acoustic traits of infant distress vocalizations that are essential for a response by caregivers, and a caregiver's sensitivity to these acoustic traits, may be shared across diverse mammals.

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Section: Species-specific Acoustic Traits and Shared Traitsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Deer Mothers Are Sensitive to Infant Distress Vocalizations of Diverse Mammalian Species

Lingle

Riede

2014

The American Naturalist

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“…Experimental evidence suggests that each single cue can be sufficient for nest recognition (visual cues [17]–[18], acoustic cues [19] and olfactory cues [13], [22], [24]), but might probably be replaced by others when necessary. Single sensory modes are error-prone, which might have facilitated the evolution of multi-modal nest recognition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this explanation seems very unlikely since there was no sex specific difference in odour preference in zebra finch fledglings [13], [14]. Another explanation might be that males do not rely on olfactory cues and either use visual cues for nest recognition [15]–[17] or use acoustic cues for offspring recognition [19]. It might also be possible that males in general do not discriminate between cues of their own and a foreign brood [41]–[43].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is even more apparent in social-living and colony-breeding species, with high densities of nests within a colony and thus a potentially higher possibility of mismatch. Birds are known to rely on visual cues for nest site recognition [15]–[18], and on acoustic signals from their offspring inside the nest to identify their own nest [19]–[21]. The role of olfaction has been less studied in most avian species, and especially in songbirds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are Olfactory Cues Involved in Nest Recognition in Two Social Species of Estrildid Finches?

Krause

Caspers

2012

PLoS ONE

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Reliably recognizing their own nest provides parents with a necessary skill to invest time and resources efficiently in raising their offspring and thereby maximising their own reproductive success. Studies investigating nest recognition in adult birds have focused mainly on visual cues of the nest or the nest site and acoustic cues of the nestlings. To determine whether adult songbirds also use olfaction for nest recognition, we investigated the use of olfactory nest cues for two estrildid finch species, zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) and Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata var. domestica) during the nestling and fledgling phase of their offspring. We found similar behavioural responses to nest odours in both songbird species. Females preferred the odour of their own nest over a control and avoided the foreign conspecific nest scent over a control during the nestling phase of their offspring, but when given the own odour and the foreign conspecific odour simultaneously we did not find a preference for the own nest odour. Males of both species did not show any preferences at all. The behavioural reaction to any nest odour decreased after fledging of the offspring. Our results show that only females show a behavioural response to olfactory nest cues, indicating that the use of olfactory cues for nest recognition seems to be sex-specific and dependent on the developmental stage of the offspring. Although estrildid finches are known to use visual and acoustic cues for nest recognition, the similar behavioural pattern of both species indicates that at least females gain additional information by olfactory nest cues during the nestling phase of their offspring. Thus olfactory cues might be important in general, even in situations in which visual and acoustic cues are known to be sufficient.

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“…This observation is puzzling considering that Levrero et al [21] have shown that captive zebra finch parents recognize the begging calls of nestlings one day before fledging. Begging calls are still used once fledged, but only to obtain food in short distance communication, not to reunite after separation [17], [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Zebra Finch Parents Fail to Recognise Their Own Offspring?

2011

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Individual recognition systems require the sender to be individually distinctive and the receiver to be able to perceive differences between individuals and react accordingly. Many studies have demonstrated that acoustic signals of almost any species contain individualized information. However, fewer studies have tested experimentally if those signals are used for individual recognition by potential receivers. While laboratory studies using zebra finches have shown that fledglings recognize their parents by their “distance call”, mutual recognition using the same call type has not been demonstrated yet. In a laboratory study with zebra finches, we first quantified between-individual acoustic variation in distance calls of fledglings. In a second step, we tested recognition of fledgling calls by parents using playback experiments. With a discriminant function analysis, we show that individuals are highly distinctive and most measured parameters show very high potential to encode for individuality. The response pattern of zebra finch parents shows that they do react to calls of fledglings, however they do not distinguish between own and unfamiliar offspring, despite individual distinctiveness. This finding is interesting in light of the observation of a high percentage of misdirected feedings in our communal breeding aviaries. Our results demonstrate the importance of adopting a receiver's perspective and suggest that variation in fledgling contact calls might not be used in individual recognition of offspring.

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Begging calls support offspring individual identity and recognition by zebra finch parents

Cited by 39 publications

References 58 publications

Deer Mothers Are Sensitive to Infant Distress Vocalizations of Diverse Mammalian Species

Deer Mothers Are Sensitive to Infant Distress Vocalizations of Diverse Mammalian Species

Are Olfactory Cues Involved in Nest Recognition in Two Social Species of Estrildid Finches?

Do Zebra Finch Parents Fail to Recognise Their Own Offspring?

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