Culturally correct song dialects are correlated with male age and female song preferences in wild populations of brown-headed cowbirds

1995 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian L. O?Loghlen ◽  
Stephen I. Rothstein
2003 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Riebel

Abstract Song plays an important role in mate choice in oscine songbirds. Male advertising song is culturally transmitted resulting in individual- or population-specific song variants. Evidence is accumulating that female song preferences are influenced by those song variants they experienced when young, but the nature and timing of the acquisition process itself is still poorly understood. Song acquisition (as well as sexual imprinting) has been studied in more detail in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) than in any other songbird species, making it timely to review the consequences of early exposure on female song perception in this species. The current literature provides substantial evidence not only for preference learning but also for exposure-dependent perceptual fine-tuning. Sensitivity for song preference learning changes over the course of development. Preference learning does not seem to occur earlier than 25 days of age (hence paralleling the time course for song acquisition in males), but a potential endpoint is currently less obvious. However, studies so far have focussed on the outcome rather than the process of learning, and thus have not aimed at delineating a sensitive phase. Early acquired song preferences seem highly stable regardless of additional experience, which suggests a self-terminating process as previously found for sexual imprinting. There are still obvious gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the process of song preference learning, but these seem worthwhile addressing, as the consequences for mate choice might differ dramatically depending on when and from whom learning takes place.


Behaviour ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 134 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 89-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel L. Kreutzer ◽  
Laurent Nagle

AbstractLaboratory experiments were designed to examine the influence of previous acoustic experience on later song preferences in female domesticated canaries (Serinus canaria). Young females were reared in acoustic isolation (five groups). In these five groups, one was reared without tutoring and four were exposed to taped tutoring songs (playbacks of three different songs, two conspecific and one heterospecific). One of the four tutored groups was exposed to all three songs, while each of the remaining groups was exposed to one of the three songs. When adult, all females were tested using copulation solicitation displays as an index of their song preferences. We demonstrated that females reared without tutoring were especially responsive to a particular domesticated canary song. This song contained a special song phrase type (Vallet & Kreutzer, 1995) that elicits high levels of sexual response. In general, a similar preference was also observed in the groups reared with tutoring. In addition, the females' preferences in tutored groups were also positively and strongly affected by conspecific songs, when these songs had been heard during the previous tutoring. In fact, females seemed to be able to selectively respond to a song containing a special song phrase, but were also able to learn conspecific songs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 157 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conny Bartsch ◽  
Henrike Hultsch ◽  
Constance Scharff ◽  
Silke Kipper
Keyword(s):  

Ethology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 115 (6) ◽  
pp. 513-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra M. Hernandez ◽  
Jeremy A. Pfaff ◽  
Elizabeth A. MacDougall-Shackleton ◽  
Scott A. MacDougall-Shackleton
Keyword(s):  

Planta Medica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (S 01) ◽  
pp. S1-S381
Author(s):  
CP Stefanache ◽  
OC Bujor ◽  
R Necula ◽  
V Ghendov ◽  
A Trifan ◽  
...  

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