The energy cost of song in the canary, Serinus canaria

Ward, Sally; Speakman, John R.; Slater, Peter J.

doi:10.1006/anbe.2003.2250

Cited by 114 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…However, the actual costs of singing loudly still remain to be uncovered (Gil and Gahr 2002). The current picture suggests that energy expenditure plays only a very minor role (Oberweger and Goller 2001;Franz and Goller 2003;Ward et al 2003Ward et al , 2004. Most likely, the production of loud songs is primarily constrained by predation and/or social aggression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Song amplitude and body size in birds

Brumm

2009

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Bird song is a sexually selected multidimensional signal. A fundamental question regarding the evolution of sexually selected signals is what information they convey and how their honesty is maintained. Song amplitude is a performance-related signal trait that varies considerably between individuals, but this signal dimension has been neglected in past studies. I found that median song amplitude in male nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) and zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) did not vary significantly with body size or residual body mass. In contrast, I found a significant negative correlation between body size (and also residual mass) and the maximum song amplitude during interactive singing in nightingales. However, the function of these more subtle differences in song amplitude remains to be investigated. By and large, the results of this study suggest that mean song amplitude is unlikely to indicate a bird's body size or current condition (measured as residual mass).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Song amplitude and body size in birds

Brumm

2009

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…Although song production is assumed to be costly, in general singing does not appear to be so for most birds (e.g. Ward et al 2003), and, thus, females may not trade-off song and egg production.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No evidence for acoustic mate-guarding in duetting buff-breasted wrens (Thryothorus leucotis)

Gill

Vonhof

Stutchbury

et al. 2005

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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There are few empirical tests of the acoustic mate-guarding hypothesis for the function of duetting in birds. This hypothesis states that when females are fertile, males initiate many songs or answer most of their mates solo songs to form duets and repel rival males seeking extra-pair copulations. We tested the hypothesis by comparing song initiation and answer rates of males and females in socially monogamous buff-breasted wrens (Throthorus leucotis) during pre-fertile and fertile periods. During pre-fertile periods, males often sang for short periods before being answered by their mates, yet first duets were formed earlier relative to dawn and more duets were given during the dawn chorus on pre- fertile than fertile mornings. Males initiated more songs during pre-fertile than fertile periods, whereas there was no difference between stages in female song initiation rates. The proportion of songs answered by individuals of both sexes did not differ between breeding stages. Other mate-guarding behaviours, such as frequent copulation and maintaining close proximity to mates when fertile, did not appear to be important in this species, as no copulations were observed and there was no difference in the time pairs spent in close proximity when females were fertile or not. Parentage analysis revealed that only 3% of 31 broods had young that were likely the result of extra-pair paternity. These findings do not support the acoustic mate-guarding hypothesis, and suggest that the low rate of extra-pair paternity in buff-breasted wrens was maintained without the use of acoustic or traditional paternity guards.

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“…That is, a truncated breeding season would result in increased testosterone, which in turn would require increased glucocorticoids to meet energetic demands associated with calling. This model may be less applicable to birds, as the relative energetic demands of vocalization are much higher for amphibians (frogs) than for birds (Emerson 2001;Ward et al 2003). Another possibility is that we do not see a positive relationship between testosterone and corticosterone in birds because testosterone is much more sensitive to social interactions and thus more variable at any given sampling time in birds than in amphibians and reptiles.…”

Section: Geographic Variation In Hormones 651mentioning

confidence: 93%

Variation in Testosterone and Corticosterone in Amphibians and Reptiles: Relationships with Latitude, Elevation, and Breeding Season Length

Eikenaar

Husak²,

Escallón³

et al. 2012

The American Naturalist

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. abstract: Latitudinal variation in life-history traits has been the focus of numerous investigations, but underlying hormonal mechanisms have received much less attention. Steroid hormones play a central role in vertebrate reproduction and may be associated with life-history trade-offs. Consequently, circulating concentrations of these hormones vary tremendously across vertebrates, yet interspecific geographic variation in male hormone concentrations has been studied in detail only in birds. We here report on such variation in amphibians and reptiles, confirming patterns observed in birds. Using phylogenetic comparative analyses, we found that in amphibians, but not in reptiles, testosterone and baseline corticosterone were positively related to latitude. Baseline corticosterone was negatively related to elevation in amphibians but not in reptiles. For both groups, testosterone concentrations were negatively related to breeding-season length. In addition, testosterone concentrations were positively correlated with baseline corticosterone in both groups. Our findings may best be explained by the hypothesis that shorter breeding seasons increase male-male competition, which may favor increased testosterone concentrations that modulate secondary sexual traits. Elevated energetic demands resulting from greater reproductive intensity may require higher baseline corticosterone. Thus, the positive relationship between testosterone and corticosterone in both groups suggests an energetic demand for testosterone-regulated behavior that is met with increased baseline glucocorticoid concentrations.

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The energy cost of song in the canary, Serinus canaria

Cited by 114 publications

References 48 publications

Song amplitude and body size in birds

Song amplitude and body size in birds

No evidence for acoustic mate-guarding in duetting buff-breasted wrens (Thryothorus leucotis)

Variation in Testosterone and Corticosterone in Amphibians and Reptiles: Relationships with Latitude, Elevation, and Breeding Season Length

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