Wild Birds Learn Songs from Experimental Vocal Tutors

Mennill, Daniel J.; Doucet, Stéphanie M.; Newman, Amy E. M.; Williams, Heather; Moran, Ines G.; Thomas, Ian P.; Woodworth, Bradley K.; Norris, D. Ryan

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.011

Cited by 67 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…This learning process appears to be mediated by different mechanisms for different song parts, likely because they convey different information (Williams et al, 2013). This was recently shown experimentally for both natal and first spring areas (Mennill et al, 2018). Although the repertoire sizes of adult white-crowned and Savannah sparrows are extremely small, the processes suggested by Slabbekoorn et al (2003) and Wheelwright et al (2008) fit well with the pattern of song variation in ortolan buntings found in Norway (Osiejuk et al, 2003a), where song diversity measured both at the individual and the population level is much higher than in stable populations in the central part of the distribution range.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…This learning process appears to be mediated by different mechanisms for different song parts, likely because they convey different information (Williams et al ., ). This was recently shown experimentally for both natal and first spring areas (Mennill et al ., ). Although the repertoire sizes of adult white‐crowned and Savannah sparrows are extremely small, the processes suggested by Slabbekoorn et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Songbird presumed to be age‐limited learner may change repertoire size and composition throughout their life

et al. 2019

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Songbirds learn to sing by imitating their conspecific songs through social learning. It is commonly thought that in species with small repertoires, so‐called crystallization of the song repertoire takes place before the first breeding attempt and afterwards their repertoires remain unchanged. However, the number of studies in which individual song repertoires have been tracked longitudinally under natural conditions is still small. The ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana) is a small Eurasian passerine species. Studies on this species have shown that males have small song repertoires (usually 2–3), share the same final phrase within a local dialect area, and their repertoires remain unchanged during their lifetimes. We studied the whole, isolated Norwegian population of this species with 100–150 individually marked males. We compared repertoire sizes and contents using cross‐sectional and longitudinal approaches. We focused on marked males aged 2–10 years and recorded in up to five breeding seasons between 2001 and 2006. There was no local dialect because songs with different final phrases occurred both within and between males. Repertoire size varied between 1 and 24 (4.7 ± 3.4) song types per male. Longitudinal analysis showed an increase in repertoire size in 29% and a decrease in 21% of males. Males whose repertoires remained the same in size between years often substantially changed in contents. New song types appeared in almost 70% of males, and over 30% of males started singing new syllable types after the second calendar year. In almost 50% of males, new song types appeared that were built as new combinations of syllables shown in previous years. In 30% of males, the song complexity increased with age. Simultaneously, over 60% of males selectively ceased singing some song types. We suggest that these repertoire alterations are linked to the isolation and fragmentation of this population, which may affect song learning patterns through increased breeding dispersal and a strongly male‐biased sex ratio. Similar studies from abundant and continuous populations of the species are needed to test this idea.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Songbird presumed to be age‐limited learner may change repertoire size and composition throughout their life

et al. 2019

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“…Perhaps heterospecific 300 exposure below some threshold does not influence juvenile behavior, but at high levels, recognition is affected. Manipulating nestlings' experience by broadcasting high levels of heterospecific song at the nesting site, similar to the approach used by Mennill et al 62 , would be an important step in understanding learned recognition when abundances are unequal, such as at range limits or in hybrid zones.…”

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confidence: 99%

The role of early acoustic experience in song discrimination

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Creanza

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2019

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Oscine songbirds are an ideal system for investigating how early experience affects behavior. Young songbirds face a challenging task: how to recognize and selectively learn only their own species' song, often during a time-limited window. Because birds are capable of 5 hearing birdsong very early in life, early exposure to song could plausibly affect recognition of appropriate models; however, this idea conflicts with the traditional view that song learning occurs only after a bird leaves the nest. Thus, it remains unknown whether natural variation in acoustic exposure prior to song learning affects the template for recognition. In a population where sister species, golden-crowned and white-crowned sparrows, breed syntopically, we found 10 that nestlings discriminate between heterospecific and conspecific song playbacks prior to the onset of song memorization. We then asked whether natural exposure to more frequent or louder heterospecific song explained any variation in golden-crowned nestling response to heterospecific song playbacks. We characterized the amount of each species' song audible in golden-crowned sparrow nests and showed that even in a relatively small area, the ratio of 15 heterospecific to conspecific song exposure varies widely. However, although many songbirds hear and respond to acoustic signals before fledging, golden-crowned sparrow nestlings that heard different amounts of heterospecific song did not behave differently in response to heterospecific playbacks. This study provides the first evidence that song discrimination at the onset of song learning is robust to the presence of closely related heterospecifics in nature, which 20 may be an important adaptation in sympatry between potentially interbreeding taxa.

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“…Laboratory studies, on the other hand, allow for a certain degree of control, yet cannot provide the rich social or ecological contexts birds enjoy in the field, thus raising questions about these studies' ultimate biological validity. A new study by Daniel Mennill and colleagues [10] tackles these criticisms in an original way, by applying a controlled songlearning design yet with wild birds in their natural habitat. The study confirms that, as expected, young birds in nature develop their songs through imitative learning, but more importantly offers new and surprising insights into how birds learn to sing.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Mennill and colleagues [10] study migratory Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) on their breeding grounds, on Kent Island in Canada ( Figure 1). Like other sparrows, breeding male Savannah Sparrows sing as they court prospective mates and interact with territorial rivals.…”

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confidence: 99%