Species‐level repertoire size predicts a correlation between individual song elaboration and reproductive success

Robinson, Cristina M.; Creanza, Nicole

doi:10.1002/ece3.5418

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 124 publications

(217 reference statements)

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“…In the language of birdsong literature, this would be a more syntactically complex song than one composed of a single repeated note. Like trill rate, syllable and song complexity has been shown to play a role in mate attraction for some species, although the strength and ubiquity of this effect is contested (see meta-analyses by [13,64] ). For example, female Bengalese finches prefer songs with higher complexity, but stressful conditions early in life limit a male's syntactical complexity, indicating that these songs are more difficult to produce (large α) [65] .…”

Section: Application To Specific Birdsong Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ornament, armament, or toolkit? Modelling how population size drives the evolution of birdsong, a functional cultural trait

Creanza

2021

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Oscine songbirds have been an important study system for social learning, particularly because their learned songs provide an analog for human languages and music. Here we propose a different analogy; from an evolutionary perspective, could a bird's song be more like an arrowhead than an aria? We modify an existing model of human tool evolution to accommodate cultural evolution of birdsong: each song learner chooses the most skilled available tutor to emulate, and more likely produces an inferior copy than a superior one. Similarly to human tool evolution, we show that larger populations foster greater improvements in song over time, even when learners restrict their pool of tutors to a subset of individuals. We also demonstrate that randomly sampling tutors from the population offers no clear benefit over sampling only existing connections in a structured social network, and that by allowing a lower quality trait to be easier to imitate than a higher quality one, simpler songs can be maintained after population bottlenecks. We show that these processes could plausibly generate empirically observed patterns of song evolution, and we make predictions about the types of song elements most likely to be lost when populations shrink. More broadly, we aim to connect the modeling approaches used by researchers studying social learning in human and non-human systems, moving toward a cohesive theoretical framework that accounts for both cognitive and demographic processes

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Section: Application To Specific Birdsong Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ornament, armament, or toolkit? Modelling how population size drives the evolution of birdsong, a functional cultural trait

Creanza

2021

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“…Song repertoire is defined as the number of unique songs sung by an individual (Robinson & Creanza, 2019). Song repertoire sizes can differ greatly between species, ranging anywhere from a few songs to thousands of songs (Vargas‐Castro et al., 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large female song repertoires and within‐pair song type sharing in a temperate breeding songbird

et al. 2020

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Female song has been significantly understudied in songbirds. While male song has been studied for centuries, female song has only begun to be explored in the last few decades. This is especially true in relation to understanding repertoire size and function. In male songbirds, song repertoires are thought to function primarily in mate attraction and territory defense. Only a few studies to date have explored repertoire size in female songbirds, and many of those focused on tropical duetting species. We quantified the size and explored the function of song repertoires in a temperate breeding songbird, the eastern bluebird. Female song in eastern bluebirds functions primarily in communication with a social mate in order to maintain long-term pair bonds. Previous work in this species also documented that males have large repertoires serving a variety of purposes. We found that female bluebirds have similar song repertoire sizes to males. Also, females share their repertoires and song types more closely with their mate than shared with non-mates. This is one of the first studies to document large female repertoires in a non-duetting temperate species. Our findings indicate that large female repertoires and song type sharing in this species is integral to communication between social mates. Additionally, the large effect size of song type sharing with newly formed mates suggests open-ended learning may be present in this songbird, a previously under-documented phenomenon in females. This study provides the groundwork to explore the ontogeny and evolution of song repertoire size in female songbirds and to expand our understanding of song repertoires beyond their functions in males as an indicator of male fitness.

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“…In many species of songbirds, complex vocalizations serve as a sexual display to attract mates or as territorial display against conspecific and heterospecific individuals. It has been shown that individuals with larger repertoire sizes are more successful in attaining mates (Catchpole 1987; Robinson and Creanza 2019) or can hold a territory for a longer duration (Hiebert et al 1989). It has also been reported that in several species the size of the repertoire increases with complexity in vocalization context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural and functional complexity of vocalizations in a cooperatively breeding passerine, Jungle Babbler

Yambem

Chorol²,

Jain³

2020

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Animal vocal communication ranges from simple to complex based on repertoire size, structure, and 16 composition of calls and the information encoded in them. According to the social complexity hypothesis, 17 communication complexity tends to increase with an increase in social complexity. While several studies on 18 mammalian systems exist supporting this, evidence from avian systems is comparatively limited. Towards this, 19 we present evidence for complex acoustic communication in a cooperatively breeding passerine, Jungle Babbler, 20 based on three aspects of complexity: an extensive repertoire of acoustically-distinct calls, within-call structural 21 complexity and the diverse behavioural contexts in which these calls are used. Jungle Babblers were found to 22 possess a structurally and functionally diverse vocal repertoire comprising 15 different calls. Detailed acoustic 23 analyses of multisyllabic calls revealed that these calls are composed of different notes. Further, despite a large 24 number of notes present in the repertoire, the number of calls were limited to 15. This implies that there may be 25 underlying rules that determine call composition to give rise to functional calls to which receivers respond. We 26 also found that these calls were produced in a variety of affiliative and agonistic contexts and were employed 27 towards coordination of diverse social behaviours including group movement, foraging, brood care, aggression 28 and vigilance. Yet, 7 out of 15 vocalizations were produced in the context of vigilance. This disproportionate 29 investment of vocalizations towards co-ordinated acoustic vigilance is characteristic of many cooperatively 30 2 breeding birds. Our study extends support for the social complexity hypothesis and also lays the foundation for 31 future investigations on combinatorial and syntactical rules underlying call structure and function in bird 32 vocalizations. 33 34 Significance statement 35 Studies on vocal complexity in birds have focussed mainly on repertoire size, structure and function. However, 36 fine temporal and spectral features of elements that constitute a call/song are rarely examined to evaluate vocal 37 complexity. We examined complex communication in a cooperatively breeding social passerine, Jungle Babbler 38 for which we assessed repertoire size, function, acoustic features of calls and of their constituent elements. 39Jungle Babblers were found to possess a structurally and functionally diverse vocal repertoire comprising of 15 40 calls, 46% of which were in the context of vigilance, thereby extending support to the social complexity 41 hypothesis. We also found that several calls were composed of multiple, acoustically distinct notes. These 42 findings will be foundational in understanding the interrelations between sociality and communicative 43 complexity and underlying combinatorial rules that determine call structure and function. 44 45

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Species‐level repertoire size predicts a correlation between individual song elaboration and reproductive success

Cited by 21 publications

References 124 publications

Ornament, armament, or toolkit? Modelling how population size drives the evolution of birdsong, a functional cultural trait

Ornament, armament, or toolkit? Modelling how population size drives the evolution of birdsong, a functional cultural trait

Large female song repertoires and within‐pair song type sharing in a temperate breeding songbird

Structural and functional complexity of vocalizations in a cooperatively breeding passerine, Jungle Babbler

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