Memorization and reproduction of songs in nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos): evidence for package formation

Abstract Seasonal patterns of singing activity of male birds have been thoroughly studied, but little is known about how those patterns vary with time of day. Here, we censused mated and unmated male Nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) at four different hours of the day throughout the breeding cycle. In unmated males, singing activity increased until the young hatched in their neighborhood, and the seasonal variation was similar at each of the four hours of the day. In mated males, however, the seasonal patterns of singing activity differed between hours of the day. In morning (about the hour of egg-laying) and during the dusk chorus, the singing activity of mated males was strongly influenced by the females' reproductive state: singing activity was low before egg-laying and during incubation, but high during the egg-laying period. In the dawn chorus, however, singing activity showed a similar seasonal pattern in mated and unmated males and was high until late stages of the breeding cycle. Our results suggest that the social context influences singing behavior to a varying degree across the season, and that this variation also depends on time of day. The hour of data collection thus is an important but often neglected factor when seasonal changes of singing activity are studied.

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A New Species of the Genus Proctophyllodes (Analgoidea, Proctophyllodidae) from Ukraine

Vestnik Zoologii ◽

10.2478/v10058-009-0015-9 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 43 (4) ◽

pp. e-15-e-18

Author(s):

S. Burdejnaja ◽

D. Kivganov

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Ficedula Hypoleuca ◽

Species Group ◽

Type Locality ◽

Pied Flycatcher ◽

Luscinia Megarhynchos ◽

Thrush Nightingale ◽

A New Species

A New Species of the Genus Proctophyllodes (Analgoidea, Proctophyllodidae) from Ukraine The species Proctophyllodes lusciniae Burdejnaja et Kivganov sp. n. from the Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos C. L. Brehm, 1831 and the Thrush Nightingale L. luscinia Linnaeus, 1758 (Passeriformes) (type locality: Zmeinij Island, Ukraine) is described. The new species, belongs to the glandarinus species group and morphologically similar to P. doleophyes Gaud, 1957 from Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca (Pallas, 1764).

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Vocal interactions in nightingales, Luscinia megarhynchos: more aggressive males have higher pairing success

Animal Behaviour ◽

10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.08.014 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 72 (1) ◽

pp. 25-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 59

Author(s):

Hansjoerg P. Kunc ◽

Valentin Amrhein ◽

Marc Naguib

Keyword(s):

Luscinia Megarhynchos ◽

Vocal Interactions

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Approaches to the mechanisms of song memorization and singing provide evidence for a procedural memory

Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências ◽

10.1590/s0001-37652004000200005 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 219-230 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Henrike Hultsch ◽

Dietmar Todt

Keyword(s):

Short Term Memory ◽

Long Strings ◽

Procedural Memory ◽

Song Learning ◽

Short Term ◽

Temporal Variables ◽

Pattern Similarity ◽

Luscinia Megarhynchos ◽

Song Acquisition ◽

Song Types

There is growing evidence that, during song learning, birds do not only acquire 'what to sing' (the inventory of behavior), but also 'how to sing' (the singing program), including order-features of song sequencing. Common Nightingales Luscinia megarhynchos acquire such serial information by segmenting long strings of heard songs into smaller subsets or packages, by a process reminiscent of the chunking of information as a coding mechanism in short term memory. Here we report three tutoring experiments on nightingales that examined whether such 'chunking' was susceptible to experimental cueing. The experiments tested whether (1) 'temporal phrasing' (silent intersong intervals spaced out at particular positions of a tutored string), or (2) 'stimulus novelty' (groups of novel song-types added to a basic string), or (3) 'pattern similarity' in the phonetic structure of songs (here: sharing of song initials) would induce package boundaries (or chunking) at the manipulated sequential positions. The results revealed cueing effects in experiments (1) and (2) but not in experiment (3). The finding that birds used temporal variables as cues for chunking does not require the assumption that package formation is a cognitive strategy. Rather, it points towards a mechanism of procedural memory operating in the song acquisition of birds.

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Population expansion of some bird species in the city of Wrocław

Acta Musei Silesiae Scientiae Naturales ◽

10.1515/cszma-2016-0029 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 65 (3) ◽

pp. 229-233

Author(s):

Grzegorz Kopij

Keyword(s):

Bird Species ◽

Population Expansion ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Luscinia Megarhynchos ◽

Nesting Sites ◽

Sw Poland ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Emberiza Hortulana ◽

The City

Abstract During the years 2002-2010, distribution and numbers of eight bird species were studied in the whole city of Wrocław, SW Poland (293 km2). The estimation for these species are as follow: Streptopelia turtur: 3 breeding pairs, Upupa epops: 1, Cuculus canorus: 49, Emberiza hortulana: 7, Luscinia megarhynchos: 214-286, Phoenicurus phoenicurus: 87-118, Turdus pilaris: 105-150, Hippolais icterina: 136-181. In comparison with 1980‘s and 1990’s, a rapid increase in the numbers P. phoenicurus, and T. pilaris, and a slight increase of L. megarhynchos and Cuculus canorus were documented. T. pilaris began to breed in the city in the end of 1990‘s. The increase may indicate that the habitats in Wrocław improved both in regard to food availability, nesting sites and other environmental requisitions. The increase in the numbers recorded for C. canorus, P. phoe-nicurus, and L. megarhynchos may also be a result of good conditions prevailing in their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa.

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