Migration and the evolution of duetting in songbirds

Logue, David M.; Hall, Michelle L.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.0103

Cited by 64 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Thus, studies of this group have revealed much about when and why female song is lost in species descended from a sedentary common ancestor with female song. A comprehensive study of male-female duet presence in songbirds also found that losses of female song were correlated with gains of migration, and indicated that losses of female song are much more common than are gains of this trait (Logue and Hall, 2014). This pattern fits well with the result that female song is ancestral in all songbirds (Odom et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…A recent surge of interest in this topic has supported the idea that female song is associated with life-history traits that are common in tropical areas, including yearround territoriality and/or non-migratory behavior, sexual monochromatism, carotenoid dichromatism, and monogamy (Malacarne et al, 1991;Garamszegi et al, 2007;Benedict, 2008;Price, 2009;Price et al, 2009;Logue and Hall, 2014). In particular, gain of migratory behavior is strongly correlated with loss of female song (including duetting; Price et al, 2009;Logue and Hall, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…In particular, gain of migratory behavior is strongly correlated with loss of female song (including duetting; Price et al, 2009;Logue and Hall, 2014). "Migration" may be best thought of not as one trait, but as an attribute that represents an amalgam of traits (navigational abilities, flight behavior, etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Female Song in New World Wood-Warblers (Parulidae)

Najar

Benedict

2015

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Recent advances have revealed that female birdsong is widespread and multifunctional. Female song was likely ancestral among songbirds and persists in many lineages today. Nevertheless, many species lack female song, and researchers are interested in understanding the selective factors that promote and counter the persistence of this trait. Female song is associated with life-history traits including year-round territoriality, non-migratory behavior, sexual monochromatism, and monogamy. Most studies examining these relationships have looked at clades with a migratory ancestor and have found that gains of migratory behavior are strongly correlated with losses of female song (and duetting). Here, we ask if the reverse pattern exists: in a large clade of songbirds with a migratory ancestor, do losses of migratory behavior correlate with gains of female song and visual signaling traits? We investigated correlations between female song, migration, and dichromatism in 107 species of New World Warblers (Family Parulidae). All of these species are predominantly monogamous and territorial when breeding, 50 (47%) are migratory, 49 (46%) are monochromatic, and 25 (23%) show female song. On a robust genetic phylogeny maximum likelihood methods recover migration and monochromatism as the ancestral state in warblers. Female song is generally not reconstructed as present in any deep nodes of the phylogeny, suggesting that most extant species with female song evolved this trait independently and relatively recently. Gains of female song do not correlate with losses of migration. Losses of dichromatism do correlate with losses of migration. Thus, in this clade, visual signals are associated with sedentary vs. migratory lifestyles, but female acoustic signals are not. Our results show a different pattern from that seen in similar studies and support the hypothesis that losses, but not gains, of female song are driven by life history.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Female Song in New World Wood-Warblers (Parulidae)

Najar

Benedict

2015

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…To date, more than 400 species have been found to duet (Hall 2009), and since the majority of them breed in the tropics, it has often been suggested that tropical natural histories may be linked to the evolution of avian duetting (reviewed by Slater and Mann 2004;Hall 2009). However, two recent comparative studies challenge this view: Odom et al (2015) suggest that the ecology and life history features that were thought to favour the evolution of duetting are rather associated with female song, and Logue and Hall (2014) argue that the evolution of duetting is primarily related to the absence of migration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Previous duet studies have focused mainly on passeriform birds (Hall 2009;Logue and Hall 2014. But see Seddon 2002 andWright andDahlin 2007 for notable exceptions).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the natural history of duetting in White-browed Coucals: sex- and body-size-dependent differences in a collective vocal display

Brumm

Goymann

2017

J Ornithol

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Avian duets have long fascinated biologists, but much remains unknown about what information may be contained in these collective displays and how duet structures vary between taxa. In this study, we describe the structure and performance rules of duets in White-browed Coucals Centropus superciliosus, a tropical non-parasitic Cuckoo. We recorded vocal behaviours of 11 focal pairs and measured temporal, frequency, and amplitude characteristics of their duets. Molecular sexing and radio telemetry revealed that duets were initiated by both sexes, but the majority of them were led by the male. Moreover, we found that duet contributions were sex specific with females producing lower-pitched songs than males, reflecting the general size dimorphism in this species. Finally, we also found that song peak frequencies varied with body size within each sex, suggesting that songs used in duets may act as index signals of body size. We speculate that sexual selection has driven White-browed Coucals to sing as low as possible, a notion that is further supported by our observation of special singing postures that may help in lowering song pitch even further.

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Sex role similarity and sexual selection predict male and female song elaboration and dimorphism in fairy‐wrens

Odom

Cain

Hall

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Historically, bird song complexity was thought to evolve primarily through sexual selection on males; yet, in many species, both sexes sing and selection pressure on both sexes may be broader. Previous research suggests competition for mates and resources during short, synchronous breeding seasons leads to more elaborate male songs at high, temperate latitudes. Furthermore, we expect male–female song structure and elaboration to be more similar at lower, tropical latitudes, where longer breeding seasons and year‐round territoriality yield similar social selection pressures in both sexes. However, studies seldom take both types of selective pressures and sexes into account. We examined song in both sexes in 15 populations of nine‐fairy‐wren species (Maluridae), a Southern Hemisphere clade with female song. We compared song elaboration (in both sexes) and sexual song dimorphism to latitude and life‐history variables tied to sexual and social selection pressures and sex roles. Our results suggest that song elaboration evolved in part due to sexual competition in males: male songs were longer than female songs in populations with low male survival and less male provisioning. Also, female songs evolved independently of male songs: female songs were slower paced than male songs, although only in less synchronously breeding populations. We also found male and female songs were more similar when parental care was more equal and when male survival was high, which provides strong evidence that sex role similarity correlates with male–female song similarity. Contrary to Northern Hemisphere latitudinal patterns, male and female songs were more similar at higher, temperate latitudes. These results suggest that selection on song can be sex specific, with male song elaboration favored in contexts with stronger sexual selection. At the same time, selection pressures associated with sex role similarity appear to favor sex role similarity in song structure.

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Migration and the evolution of duetting in songbirds

Cited by 64 publications

References 37 publications

Female Song in New World Wood-Warblers (Parulidae)

Female Song in New World Wood-Warblers (Parulidae)

On the natural history of duetting in White-browed Coucals: sex- and body-size-dependent differences in a collective vocal display

Sex role similarity and sexual selection predict male and female song elaboration and dimorphism in fairy‐wrens

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