Females don't always sing in response to male song, but when they do, they sing to males with higher-pitched songs

Kirschel, Alexander N. G.; Zanti, Zacharo; Harlow, Zachary T.; Vallejo, Edgar E.; Cody, Martin L.; Taylor, Charles

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.06.024

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Female song predominantly occurred during April, suggesting that females might compete for territories or partners on arrival from migration, and may also announce their fertility to males (Langmore 1998) observations of female-female aggression coincident with singing suggest that at least one function of female song in this species is for territorial defence and this has been observed in a few other species (e.g. Reichard et al 2018;Kirschel et al 2020), and two further observations of female song occurred when two males were present suggesting that it may be involved in signalling fertility, mate choice (Langmore 1998), or pair bonding (Sethi and Bhatt 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Female song in the Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca

et al. 2021

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Female song is widespread across bird species yet rarely reported. Here, we report the first observations and description of female song in the Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca and compare it to male song through the breeding season. Twenty-five percent of colour-ringed females were observed singing at least once, predominantly in April, compared to 71% of males that continued singing through the breeding period. We suggest that female song may have multiple functions in this species, but it may be especially important in territorial defence and mate acquisition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Female song in the Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca

et al. 2021

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“…In relation to acoustic variables of song, we found that peak frequency was related to age and (weakly) to body size in both females and males. This could play an important role during female vocal interactions as it does for female Mexican antthrushes (Formicarius moniliger) (Kirschel et al 2020). Female song, like male song, varied in acoustic structure during the breeding period; decreasing in peak frequency and increasing in vocal consistency towards the fertile period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frequent female song in blue tits: behavioural context suggests a role in intrasexual competition

Sierro

Kort

Riebel

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) is an important avian model in evolutionary ecology (> 20,000 published scientific studies). Song, like in other songbird species, is generally described as a male trait and plays an important role in mate attraction and territory defence. Over the decades, there have been recurring reports of anecdotal female song but these have not led to any quantitative study of female song in blue tits. Our systematic sampling over three years revealed prolific female singing in a northern population of colour ringed blue tits. Daytime singing of females occurred throughout the breeding season during agonistic interactions, solo songs and alarm situations, and these contexts are similar to male song. Notably, female song was absent during the dawn chorus; the period around sunrise when males sing intensively just before mating. Female and male song overlapped substantially in acoustic structure (i.e. same song types, peak frequency or trill rates) but there were also significant differences in that females had smaller repertoires, shorter trills and lower vocal consistency. Differential selections pressures related with contextual (functional) differences in the role of male and female song could explain the observed differences in acoustic structure. The new finding of prolific female singing in such a well-studied species suggests we ought to revise our understanding of male and female vocal communication in this (and probably other) species. Identifying the selection pressures associated to the convergence versus divergence of male and female song may provide important insight in understanding birdsong evolution.

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Stutchbury

Morton

2023

Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Birds

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Females don't always sing in response to male song, but when they do, they sing to males with higher-pitched songs

Cited by 9 publications

References 50 publications

Female song in the Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca

Female song in the Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca

Frequent female song in blue tits: behavioural context suggests a role in intrasexual competition

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