The ability to perform physically challenging songs predicts age and size in male swamp sparrows, Melospiza georgiana

Ballentine, Barbara

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.12.027

Cited by 107 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Searcy & Nowicki [3] outlined three criteria needed to demonstrate that a signal is reliable: (i) some aspect of the signal must correlate with signaller attributes; (ii) receivers should respond to the signal in ways consistent with its presumed function; and (iii) receivers should respond in ways that provide them with overall fitness benefits. Considering the potential reliability of vocal performance in songbirds, the first criterion had been addressed in previous studies, including in swamp sparrows [32,33]. These studies showed that older or larger males tend to sing at higher vocal performance levels, thus presumably presenting greater threats to territorial rivals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our data suggest that subject attributes can be important predictors of responses to territorial intrusion. Available evidence from several songbird species indicates that vocal performance can correlate with age, size or other quality attributes [32,33], and males with high-performance songs would therefore be better positioned to ward off the challenge of high-performance intruders. In agonistic contests, the importance of subjects' own attributes as predictors of behaviour has been established in other taxa [34], but fewer studies have shown the connection to receiver signal values specifically [7,35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the one hand, disregarding lowperformance signals should not carry high costs for any males, even those who themselves are of low quality. Males on territories would likely suffer little impact on their reproductive success if they were to tolerate younger or poorer-quality males on their territories, as it is unlikely that females would select males with low-performance songs for extra-pair mating [20,32,37,38] (D. L. Moseley 2012, unpublished data). It thus may not be surprising that responses to low-performance stimuli were uniformly low.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Responses to song playback vary with the vocal performance of both signal senders and receivers

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mating signals of many animal species are difficult to produce and thus should indicate signaler quality. Growing evidence suggests that receivers modulate their behaviour in response to signals with varying performance levels, although little is known about if and how responses are affected by receiver attributes. To explore this topic we conducted two experiments with swamp sparrows, Melospiza georgiana, in which we challenged territorial males with playback of songs with trill rates that were natural, digitally reduced, or digitally elevated (control-, low-and highperformance stimuli, respectively). In our first experiment, we found that males responded more aggressively to control songs than to low-performance stimuli, that low-performance stimuli with the most severe trill-rate reductions elicited the weakest aggressive responses, and that the subjects' own trill rates predicted aggressive responses. In our second experiment, we found that male responses to high-performance stimuli varied significantly, in ways predicted by two factors: the degree to which we had elevated stimulus performance levels of high-performance stimuli, and subjects' own vocal performance levels. Specifically, males were less aggressive towards stimuli for which we had elevated performance levels to higher degrees, and subject males with higher vocal performances themselves responded more aggressively. These findings together offer a novel illustration of how responses to aggressive signals may rely not just on signal attributes, but also on attributes of responding animals themselves.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Responses to song playback vary with the vocal performance of both signal senders and receivers

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Alternatively, these vocal changes could be due to differences in energy available to birds on the two schedules of reinforcement. Larger, older birds, presumably having good access to food, can vocalize closer to the species limits and produce longer and more complex vocalizations (Ballentine et al, 2004;Ballentine, 2009;Genevois and Bretagnolle, 1994;Martin-Vivaldi et al, 1998). It is D. S. Proppe and C. B. Sturdy possible that by moving to lower frequencies, partially reinforced individuals are reducing their energetic allotment for vocal production.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

“…In many bird species, nesting success improves with age and there is a concomitant preference for pairing with older mates (Kokko, 1997). This could, in turn, select for song elaboration as a signal of age and experience in both sexes (Langmore et al, 1996;Ballentine, 2009). These studies generate many fascinating hypotheses to explain the relationship between female song, age and breeding success.…”

Section: Female Song and Fitnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Editorial: Fitness Costs and Benefits of Female Song

Hall

Langmore

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ability to perform physically challenging songs predicts age and size in male swamp sparrows, Melospiza georgiana

Cited by 107 publications

References 57 publications

Responses to song playback vary with the vocal performance of both signal senders and receivers

Responses to song playback vary with the vocal performance of both signal senders and receivers

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

Editorial: Fitness Costs and Benefits of Female Song

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About