Song repertoires and sexual selection in the Red-winged Blackbird

Yasukawa, Ken; Blank, James L.; Patterson, Cindy B.

doi:10.1007/bf00299369

Cited by 187 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Singing could be costly in terms of energy to produce song, time spent singing, or developmental costs associated with learning (Nowicki et al 1998). There is some evidence that males singing more song types may have higher reproductive success, provide greater parental care, and survive longer (e.g., Yasukawa et al 1980;Lambrechts and Dhondt 1986;Hasselquist 1998;Buchanan and Catchpole 2000). It was demonstrated in great reed warblers that females obtain extrapair fertilizations from males with larger repertoires than their mates (Hasselquist et al 1996), and repertoire size may reflect developmental condition in this same species (Nowicki et al 2000).…”

Section: Modulation Of Condition-dependent Traits For Matementioning

confidence: 99%

An Mhc Component to Kin Recognition and Mate Choice in Birds: Predictions, Progress, and Prospects

Zelano

Edwards

2002

The American Naturalist

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The major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) has been identified as a locus influencing disease resistance, mate choice, and kin recognition in mammals and fish. However, it is unclear whether the mechanisms by which Mhc genes influence behavior in mammals are applicable to other nonmammalian vertebrates such as birds. We review the biology of Mhc genes with particular reference to their relevance to avian mating and social systems. New genomics approaches recently have been applied to the Mhcs of chickens, quail, and several icons of avian behavioral ecology, including red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus). The predominance of concerted evolution at avian Mhc loci makes such methods attractive for providing access to this complicated multigene family. Although some biological processes influenced by Mhc in mammals are physiologically implausible for birds, Mhc could influence cues that form well-known bases for mate choice in birds by influencing the health and vigor of individuals. The tight associations of Mhc variation and disease resistance in chickens raise hope that finding associations of Mhc genes, disease, and mate choice in natural populations of birds will be as fruitful as in mammalian systems.

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Section: Modulation Of Condition-dependent Traits For Matementioning

confidence: 99%

An Mhc Component to Kin Recognition and Mate Choice in Birds: Predictions, Progress, and Prospects

Zelano

Edwards

2002

The American Naturalist

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“…In many species, for example, females have been shown to prefer males with larger song repertoires (e.g. Yasukawa et al 1980;Catchpole et al 1984Catchpole et al , 1986Searcy 1984;Baker et al 1986;Hasselquist et al 1996;. In what way could it be more costly to sing multiple song types or syllable types, as compared to fewer types, if the units are of the same duration and delivered at the same rate ?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nestling growth and song repertoire size in great reed warblers: evidence for song learning as an indicator mechanism in mate choice

Nowicki

Hasselquist

Bensch

et al. 2000

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

175

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Females of many songbird species show a preference for mating with males that have larger song repertoires, but the advantages associated with this preference are uncertain. We tested the hypothesis that song complexity can serve as an indicator of male quality because the development of the brain regions underlying song learning and production occurs when young birds typically face nutritional and other stresses, so that song re£ects how well a male fared during post-hatch development. A key prediction of this hypothesis is that variation in nestling condition should correspond to variation in the adult song repertoires of individuals. We used data from a long-term study of the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) to test this prediction, correlating two measures of nestling development with subsequent repertoire size of males. We found that the length of the innermost primary feather, a standard measure of development, signi¢cantly predicted ¢rst-year repertoire size. The relationship between repertoire size and body mass was nearly signi¢cant, in spite of the large variance inherent in this measure. These data support the idea that song may provide females with information about a male's response to developmental stress, which in turn is expected to correlate with indirect or direct bene¢ts she might receive.

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“…Some learn their song during a short sensitive period early in life (Marler 1987), before or after dispersing from the natal territory, or both; examples are the chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs (Thorpe 1958), zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata (Immelmann and Suomi 1981), song and swamp sparrows, Melospiza melodia and M. georgiana (Marler andPeters 1977, 1988a), marsh wren, Cistothorus palustris (Kroodsma and Pickert 1980), and marsh tit, Parus palustris (Rost 1990). Others, like the red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus (Yasukawa et al 1980), the canary, Serinus canaria (Nottebohm and Nottebohm 1978), and the starling, Sturnus vulgaris ), increase and modify their repertoire throughout life.…”

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confidence: 99%

Cultural Inheritance of Song and Its Role in the Evolution of Darwin's Finches

1996

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Abstract,-Songs of Darwin's finches were studied on the Galapagos Island of Daphne Major from 1976 to 1995. A single, structurally simple, and unvarying song is sung throughout life by each male of the two common species, Geospiza fortis (medium ground finch) and G. scandens (cactus finch). Songs of the two species differ strongly in quantitative features, and individual variation among males is much broader in G.fortis than in G. scandens. Although there are exceptions, songs of sons strongly resemble the songs of their fathers. They also resemble the songs of their paternal grandfathers, but not their maternal grandfathers, indicating that they are culturally inherited and not genetically inherited. Female G. fortis display a tendency to avoid mating with males that sing the same type of song as their father. They also avoid mating with males that sing heterospecific song, with very rare exceptions. Thus song, an evolving, culturally inherited trait, is an important factor in species recognition and mate choice. It constrains the mating of females to conspecifics, even when there is no genetic penalty to interbreeding, and thus may playa crucial role in species formation by promoting genetic isolation on secondary contact. The barrier is leaky in that occasional errors in song transmission result in misimprinting, which leads to a low incidence of hybridization and introgression. Introgression slows the rate of postzygotic isolation, but can produce individuals in novel genetic and morphological space that can provide the starting point of a new evolutionary trajectory.Key words.-Hybridization, imprinting, inbreeding avoidance, mate choice, speciation, species recognition.Received November 28, 1995. Accepted April 30, 1996.Bush (1993) has emphasized that complete reproductive isolation is the end point of the speciation process, not the beginning, thereby drawing attention to the period when diverging taxa are still capable of interbreeding. In birds, this potential to hybridize may remain for 20 million yr or more after divergence from a common ancestor (Prager and Wilson 1975). Indeed, a low incidence of hybridization is known to occur in approximately one in 10 species of birds (Grant and Grant 1992a). To understand the process of speciation and the consequences of introgression we need to know the nature of the barrier to gene flow in sympatry and the extent to which it is permeable. Species of Darwin's finches on the Galapagos are suitable for this purpose. Having diverged from a common ancestor approximately 3 M.Y.B.P. (Grant 1994), they are closely related, morphologically distinct, yet capable of interbreeding. Interbreeding species are similar in courtship behavior and plumage, but differ markedly in body and bill size and shape and in song. In this paper we examine the role of song as a barrier to gene exchange in sympatry.Studies of bird song over the last 40 years have provided observational and experimental evidence that species can discriminate between conspecific and heterospecific song (Marler

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Song repertoires and sexual selection in the Red-winged Blackbird

Cited by 187 publications

References 14 publications

An Mhc Component to Kin Recognition and Mate Choice in Birds: Predictions, Progress, and Prospects

An Mhc Component to Kin Recognition and Mate Choice in Birds: Predictions, Progress, and Prospects

Nestling growth and song repertoire size in great reed warblers: evidence for song learning as an indicator mechanism in mate choice

Cultural Inheritance of Song and Its Role in the Evolution of Darwin's Finches

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