Changes in singing behavior of male black-capped chickadees (Parus atricapillus) following mate removal

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Otter ◽  
Laurene Ratcliffe
Keyword(s):  
Parus Atricapillus ◽  
Singing Behavior ◽  
Mate Removal

scholarly journals Born to sing! Song development in a singing primate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara De Gregorio ◽  
Filippo Carugati ◽  
Vittoria Estienne ◽  
Daria Valente ◽  
Teresa Raimondi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Call Structure ◽  
Historical View ◽  
Singing Behavior ◽  
Vocal Behaviour ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Vocal Activity ◽  
Song Development

Abstract In animal vocal communication, the development of adult-like vocalization is fundamental to interact appropriately with conspecifics. However, the factors that guide ontogenetic changes in the acoustic features remains poorly understood. In contrast with a historical view of nonhuman primate vocal production as substantially innate, recent research suggests that inheritance and physiological modification can only explain some of the developmental changes in call structure during growth. A particular case of acoustic communication is the indris' singing behavior, a peculiar case among Strepsirrhine primates. Thanks to a decade of intense data collection, this work provides the first long-term quantitative analysis on song development in a singing primate. To understand the ontogeny of such a complex vocal output, we investigated juvenile and sub-adult indris' vocal behaviour, and we found that young individuals started participating in the chorus years earlier than previously reported. Our results indicated that spectro-temporal song parameters underwent essential changes during growth. In particular, the age and sex of the emitter influenced the indris' vocal activity. We found that frequency parameters showed consistent changes across the sexes, but the temporal features showed different developmental trajectories for males and females. Given the low level of morphological sexual dimorphism and the marked differences in vocal behavior, we hypothesize that factors like social influences and auditory feedback may affect songs' features, resulting in high vocal flexibility in juvenile indris. This trait may be pivotal in a species that engages in choruses with rapid vocal turn-taking.

Kinematics of birdsong: functional correlation of cranial movements and acoustic features in sparrows

1993 ◽  
Vol 182 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Westneat ◽  
J. H. Long ◽  
W. Hoese ◽  
S. Nowicki
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Zonotrichia Albicollis ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Acoustic Frequency ◽  
Mean Frequency ◽  
Singing Behavior ◽  
Resonance Properties ◽  
Melospiza Georgiana

The movements of the head and beak of songbirds may play a functional role in vocal production by influencing the acoustic properties of songs. We investigated this possibility by synchronously measuring the acoustic frequency and amplitude and the kinematics (beak gape and head angle) of singing behavior in the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) and the swamp sparrow (Melospiza georgiana). These birds are closely related emberizine sparrows, but their songs differ radically in frequency and amplitude structure. We found that the acoustic frequencies of notes in a song have a consistent, positive correlation with beak gape in both species. Beak gape increased significantly with increasing frequency during the first two notes in Z. albicollis song, with a mean frequency for note 1 of 3 kHz corresponding to a gape of 0.4 cm (a 15 degrees gape angle) and a mean frequency for note 2 of 4 kHz corresponding to a gape of 0.7 cm (a 30 degrees gape angle). The relationship between gape and frequency for the upswept third note in Z. albicollis also was significant. In M. georgiana, low frequencies of 3 kHz corresponding to beak gapes of 0.2-0.3 cm (a 10–15 degrees break angle), whereas frequencies of 7–8 kHz were associated with flaring of the beak to over 1 cm (a beak angle greater than 50 degrees). Beak gape and song amplitude are poorly correlated in both species. We conclude that cranial kinematics, particularly beak movements, influence the resonance properties of the vocal tract by varying its physical dimensions and thus play an active role in the production of birdsong.

Effects of Population Size on Singing Behavior of a Rare Duetting Songbird

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 210-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANDRA V. VALDERRAMA ◽  
LAURA E. MOLLES ◽  
JOSEPH R. WAAS
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Singing Behavior
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