Nest-vicinity song exchanges may coordinate biparental care of northern cardinals

Halkin, Sylvia L.

doi:10.1006/anbe.1996.0415

Cited by 66 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Species occupying dense habitat may need to maintain contact acoustically if visual contact is not possible (Thorpe, 1963;Mays et al, 2006). Biparental care is common in birds (Cockburn, 2006), and the ability of the sexes to coordinate and cooperate in the provision of care is likely to influence reproductive success (Halkin, 1997;Elie et al, 2010;Mariette and Griffith, 2012). Since calls are also suited to maintaining contact, such functions may not select for complex songs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female song and vocal interactions with males in a neotropical wren

2015

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Bird song is thought to function primarily in same-sex competition, mate attraction, and reproductive stimulation of a partner. However, these conclusions are based largely on studies of the song of male birds in north-temperate species. We investigate female song in a Neotropical wren, Thryophilus pleurostictus, using observations and experiments to test the function of female song. Female banded wrens sang much less often than males, their songs were shorter, and their repertoire of song types was smaller. Females did not seem to sing for same-sex competition for resources or mates: female song rate did not increase in response to simulated intrusion, and females sang in response to less than one-third of playbacks simulating territorial intrusion by either unpaired or paired females. Territorial defense is important for both survival and reproduction in species that occupy all-purpose territories year-round, but female involvement in territorial defense was limited. Females were more likely to approach simulated intruders when their partner approached more closely, and were closer to their partner during playback simulating a pair of intruders, perhaps contributing to defense jointly with their partner. Females did not appear to use song to attract males for mating: only 25% of females sang in response to playback simulating an unpaired male during the nest-building period, and they were less likely to sing shortly before laying when they were more likely to be fertile. Female song in banded wrens seemed to be used primarily for communicating with their breeding partner: female songs overlapped or began within 1 s of a song by their partner more often than expected by chance, and male vocal behavior changed in response to song by their partner. However, the low rate of female song in banded wrens suggests this function does not select for song elaboration, consistent with the view that same-sex competition is the main driver of female song elaboration.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female song and vocal interactions with males in a neotropical wren

2015

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“…males were more likely to come to the nest when the female sang in the vicinity of the nest than when she did not (Halkin, 1997). In contrast, Kleindorfer et al (2016) found in superb fairy wrens that female song in the nest incurs a significant cost in terms of increased risk of predation and they suggest this may provide a strong selective pressure for reduced female song during breeding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Female Song Rate and Structure Predict Reproductive Success in a Socially Monogamous Bird

2016

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Bird song is commonly regarded as a male trait that has evolved through sexual selection. However, recent research has prompted a re-evaluation of this view by demonstrating that female song is an ancestral and phylogenetically widespread trait. Species with female song provide opportunities to study selective pressures and mechanisms specific to females within the wider context of social competition. We investigated the relationship between reproductive success and female song performance in the New Zealand bellbird (Anthornis melanura), a passerine resident year round in New Zealand temperate forests. We monitored breeding behavior and song over 3 years on Tiritiri Matangi Island. Female bellbirds contributed significantly more toward parental care than males (solely incubating young and provisioning chicks at more than twice the rate of males). Female song rate in the vicinity of the nest was higher than that of males during incubation and chick-rearing stages but similar during early-nesting and post-breeding stages. Using GLMs, we found that female song rates during both incubation and chick-rearing stages strongly predicted the number of fledged chicks. However, male song rate and male and female chick provisioning rates had no effect on fledging success. Two measures of female song complexity (number of syllable types and the number of transitions between different syllable types) were also good predictors of breeding success (GLM on PC scores). In contrast, song duration, the total number of syllables, and the number of "stutter" syllables per song were not correlated with fledging success. It is unclear why male song rate was not associated with reproductive success and we speculate that extra-pair paternity might play a role. While we have previously demonstrated that female bellbird song is important in intrasexual interactions, we clearly demonstrate here that female song predicts reproductive success. These results, with others, highlight the need for a change in how we view the significance of female secondary sexual traits; traits long underestimated due to a focus on male song.

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“…For example, evidence from a variety of species suggests that female songs function to deter same-sex competitors for territories or mates (Beletsky 1983, Arcese et al 1988, Cooney and Cockburn 1995, Levin 1996. Female solo song may also function in mate attraction (Langmore et al 1996, Morton 1996, Eens and Pinxten 1998 or to maintain intrapair contact and coordinate breeding activities (Halkin 1997, Whittingham et al 1997, Slater and Mann 2004. None of these hypotheses, however, adequately explains why females would sing more frequently than males, as occurs in Streak-backed Orioles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%