Singing as a handicap: the effects of food availability and weather on song output in the Australian reed warbler <i>Acrocephalus australis</i>

Berg, Mathew L.; Beintema, Nienke H.; Welbergen, Justin A.; Komdeur, Jan

doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2005.03285.x

Cited by 43 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…1990; Cuthill & Macdonald 1990; Lucas et al. 1999; Thomas 1999; Godfrey & Bryant 2000; Thomas & Cuthill 2002; Berg et al. 2005; Barnett & Briskie 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategic Regulation of Body Mass and Singing Behavior in New Zealand Robins

Barnett

Briskie

2010

Ethology

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The ‘small bird in winter’ paradigm states that body mass is a balance between the conflicting demands of carrying enough energy to survive nightly fasts while minimizing the risk of predation associated with carrying additional fat reserves. We conducted a short‐term food‐supplementation experiment during which New Zealand robins (Petroica australis) were provided with food on the second day of a 3‐d trial. This allowed us to test two predictions from models of strategic mass regulation in small birds: (1) individual birds reach the same end‐of‐day mass despite differences in their initial morning mass while, (2) using surplus energy for increased singing. As expected, robins gained mass at a higher rate early in the morning on the fed day than they did on either of the two control days, but there was no significant difference in their evening masses across the 3 d of the experiment despite birds on day 3 starting at higher initial masses than birds on day 1. Robins displayed a significantly higher rate of singing when receiving food supplements on day 2, supporting a link between energetic reserves and behavior. Our results suggest that potentially energetically costly behaviors, such as song production, are sensitive to short‐term changes in energy reserves, and that both state and behavioral predictions can be successfully integrated to provide tests of state‐based models of behavior.

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“…1990; Cuthill & Macdonald 1990; Lucas et al. 1999; Thomas 1999; Godfrey & Bryant 2000; Thomas & Cuthill 2002; Berg et al. 2005; Barnett & Briskie 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategic Regulation of Body Mass and Singing Behavior in New Zealand Robins

Barnett

Briskie

2010

Ethology

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“…Individuals in these areas were caught in mist‐nets and colour banded for individual identification. All territories in the supplementary‐fed and control areas were accurately mapped and monitored during November and December (described in Berg et al . 2005).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The functional significance of multiple nest‐building in the Australian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus australis

Berg

Beintema

Welbergen

et al. 2006

Ibis

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The vast majority of bird species build a nest in which to breed. Some species build more than one nest, but the function of most multiple nest‐building remains unclear. Here we describe the unusual nest‐building behaviour of the Australian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus australis, and test experimentally the hypotheses that multiple nest‐building is related to individual condition or territory quality, and plays a role in mate assessment. Australian Reed Warblers built two types of nest structures: ‘type I’ nests, which were used for eggs and nestlings, and ‘type II’ nests, which were structurally distinct from type I nests, did not support eggs, nestlings or adults and were not essential for successful breeding. The number of type II nests built in each territory varied. Type II nests were only built before breeding had commenced in a territory and females were not observed participating in their construction, supporting a role in female mate choice. Birds provided with supplementary food built significantly more type II nests than control birds. However, supplementary‐fed birds did not have greater pairing success, and the addition of further type II nests to territories did not increase the pairing rate or type II nest construction in those territories. There was no relationship between the presence of type II nests and either reproductive success or likelihood of nest predation. We discuss the implications of these results in light of previous suggestions regarding the function of multiple nest‐building in birds.

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“…For example, changes to forest structure and ambient noise affect transmission properties (Morton, 1975;Slabbekoorn and Peet, 2003), and therefore may favor the ability of species to modify their vocal output as adults. Further, food availability may affect motivation to sing (Berg et al, 2005), behavioral state (Goldberg et al, 2001;Rafacz and Templeton, 2003;Lindqvist et al, 2009) or levels of stress (Pravosudov et al, 2001), again perpetuating modifications in the structure of vocalizations. Yet, to our knowledge, no study has evaluated, in a controlled setting, whether individual adult birds can modify the structure of their vocalizations in the presence of abiotic environmental changes such as food availability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of schedules of reinforcement on the composition of spontaneous and evoked black-capped chickadee calls

Proppe

Sturdy

2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYSongbirds often modify elements of their songs or calls in particular social situations (e.g. song matching, flock convergence, etc.) but whether adult individuals also make vocal modifications in response to abiotic environmental factors (e.g. food availability) is relatively unknown. In the present study we test whether two different schedules of food reinforcement, fixed ratio continuous reinforcement and variable ratio partial reinforcement, cause adult black-capped chickadees to change the structure of their chick-a-dee calls. We also examine how these calls differ in two contexts: being alone versus when experiencing an alarming event. Wild-caught black-capped chickadees were housed in isolation to prevent social interaction and recorded weekly for seven weeks. Baseline recordings on week one show that calls given alone differed from those given during an alarming event in both note type composition and frequency (i.e. pitch). Calls also changed over time between birds on the two different schedules of reinforcement. In addition, birds on different reinforcement schedules responded differently during the two recording conditions. Our results suggest that call characteristics can be modified rapidly and may reflect abiotic environmental conditions. If call structure varies consistently with particular abiotic environmental conditions, much can be gained from bioacoustic analyses of calls from wild birds. However, vocal patterns must be consistent across dialects, and we must disentangle vocal changes due to the abiotic environment from those due to social interaction. Further research is needed from natural populations and across multiple regions.

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Singing as a handicap: the effects of food availability and weather on song output in the Australian reed warbler Acrocephalus australis

Cited by 43 publications

References 51 publications

Strategic Regulation of Body Mass and Singing Behavior in New Zealand Robins

Strategic Regulation of Body Mass and Singing Behavior in New Zealand Robins

The functional significance of multiple nest‐building in the Australian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus australis

The effect of schedules of reinforcement on the composition of spontaneous and evoked black-capped chickadee calls

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