Mate Choice in Adult Female Bengalese Finches: Females Express Consistent Preferences for Individual Males and Prefer Female-Directed Song Performances

Abstract

In the process of mate selection by female songbirds, male suitors advertise their quality through reproductive displays in which song plays an important role. Females evaluate the quality of each signal and the associated male, and the results of that evaluation guide expression of selective courtship displays. Some studies reveal broad agreement among females in their preferences for specific signal characteristics, indicating that those features are especially salient in female mate choice. Other studies reveal that females differ in their preference for specific characteristics, indicating that in those cases female evaluation of signal quality is influenced by factors other than simply the physical properties of the signal. Thus, both the physical properties of male signals and specific traits of female signal evaluation can impact female mate choice. Here, we characterized the mate preferences of female Bengalese finches. We found that calls and copulation solicitation displays are equally reliable indicators of female preference. In response to songs from an array of males, each female expressed an individual-specific song preference, and those preferences were consistent across tests spanning many months. Across a population of females, songs of some males were more commonly preferred than others, and females preferred female-directed songs more than undirected songs, suggesting that some song features are broadly attractive. Preferences were indistinguishable for females that did or did not have social experience with the singers, indicating that female preference is strongly directed by song features rather than experiences associated with the singer. Analysis of song properties revealed several candidate parameters that may influence female evaluation. In an initial investigation of those parameters, females could be very selective for one song feature yet not selective for another. Therefore, multiple song parameters are evaluated independently. Together these findings reveal the nature of signal evaluation and mate choice in this species.

What is the whistle all about? A study on whistle songs, related male characteristics, and female song preferences in common nightingales

“…Assuming that their increased responses during the whistle treatment reflect increased arousal or even a preference for whistle songs (Searcy 1992b), we conclude that whistle songs serve in mate attraction in nightingales, a notion that had been previously proposed by several authors (e.g., Hultsch 1980;Kunc 2004Kunc , 2005aTodt and Hultsch 2006;Naguib et al 2008). Especially female vocalization behaviour during the playbacks can be seen as a strong indicator of female song preference Dunning et al 2014;Amy et al 2015). In nightingales, both sexes possess call repertoires that are used in many different situations during courtship and breeding (Horstkotte 1965;Glutz von Blotzheim 1989).…”

Male mate preferences in mutual mate choice: finches modulate their songs across and within male–female interactions

“…Many studies have documented the importance of male song in female mate choice (Collins, 2004; MacDougall-Shackleton, 1997; Riebel, 2009; Searcy & Yasukawa, 1996; Tomaszycki & Adkins-Regan, 2005). In some cases, song can have such a profound influence that females will solicit copulation in response to song alone, even if no male is present (Dunning, Pant, Bass, Coburn, & Prather, 2014; Nagle, Kreutzer, & Vallet, 2002; Searcy, 1992; West & King, 1988b). These data have led to the idea that males use song to advertise their attractiveness as potential mates, and females evaluate those songs and use that information to choose their mate.…”

“…Therefore, males commonly encounter many females simultaneously. Males of those species also sing frequently throughout the day and across many different social contexts, and song is a primary means through which females select their mates (Collins, Hubbard, & Houtman, 1994; Dunning et al, 2014; Woolley & Doupe, 2008). Thus, males invest considerable time and energy in their displays to increase the number of females available for mating.…”

“…In support of the possibility that males may modulate their songs to different degrees in the presence of different females, males of some species, including Bengalese finches, modulate their song properties when they sing directly to a female (‘directed song’) as opposed to when they sing alone (‘undirected song’) (Sakata, Hampton, & Brainard, 2008; Sossinka & Bohner, 1980). Females can detect those subtle differences and prefer directed songs more than the undirected songs performed by the same male (Dunning et al, 2014; Woolley & Doupe, 2008). Those data reveal at least some role for male song variation in shaping mate choice, but they do not address the resolution at which males express their mate preferences.…”

Limitations of a habituation task to demonstrate discrimination of natural signals in songbirds

“…The response bias in females could be explained by mate choice preference. Dunning et al (2014) found a positive correlation between the number of calls produced by female Bengalese finches to playback of male song and the number of copulation solicitation displays, suggesting that frequency of calls reflects female preference. Moreover, they showed that each female Bengalese finch had an individual-specific song preference and the degree of selectivity for the preferred song varied across females.…”