scholarly journals Learned recognition of brood parasitic cuckoos in the superb fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 798-805 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. E. Langmore ◽  
W. E. Feeney ◽  
J. Crowe-Riddell ◽  
H. Luan ◽  
K. M. Louwrens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Malurus Cyaneus

scholarly journals Recognition of other species' aerial alarm calls: speaking the same language or learning another?

2008 ◽  
Vol 276 (1657) ◽  
pp. 769-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D Magrath ◽  
Benjamin J Pitcher ◽  
Janet L Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Specific Structure ◽  
Geographical Range ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Signal Design ◽  
Interspecific Recognition ◽  
Malurus Cyaneus

Alarm calls given by other species potentially provide a network of information about danger, but little is known about the role of acoustic similarity compared with learning in recognition of heterospecific calls. In particular, the aerial ‘hawk’ alarm calls of passerines provide a textbook example of signal design because many species have converged on a design that thwarts eavesdropping by hawks, and call similarity might therefore allow recognition. We measured the response of fairy-wrens ( Malurus cyaneus ) to playback of acoustically similar scrubwren ( Sericornis frontalis ) aerial alarm calls. First, if call similarity prompts escape independent of learning, then fairy-wrens should flee to playback of scrubwren calls outside their geographical range. However, fairy-wrens fled only in sympatry. Second, if call similarity is necessary for learning heterospecific calls, then fairy-wrens should not respond to sympatric species with different calls. We found, on the contrary, that fairy-wrens fled to the very different aerial alarm calls of a honeyeater ( Phylidonyris novaehollandiae ). Furthermore, response to the honeyeater depended on the specific structure of the call, not acoustic similarity. Overall, call similarity was neither sufficient nor necessary for interspecific recognition, implying learning is essential in the complex task of sifting the acoustic world for cues about danger.

Edge effects on the distribution and abundance of birds in a southern Victorian forest

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lainie Berry
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Bird Communities ◽  
Forest Edges ◽  
Forest Interior ◽  
Open Country ◽  
Habitat Edge ◽  
Malurus Cyaneus ◽  
Grey Shrike

An important consequence of habitat fragmentation for wildlife communities is the effect of an increase in the ratio of habitat edge to interior. This study compares the bird communities at forest/farmland edges and in forest interior at Bunyip State Park, Victoria. Overall, there was a significantly higher number of bird species and individuals in forest edge than in forest interior sites. The greater diversity of species at edge sites appeared to be due to an increase in forest-edge specialists, as opposed to an influx of open-country species. Four bird species: the white-throated treecreeper (Cormobates leucophaeus), the superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus), the grey shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica) and the grey fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) were significantly more abundant in edge sites. There were no species that were significantly more abundant in interior sites. Differences between the bird communities in edge and interior sites were attributed to increased foraging opportunities in the open country adjacent to forest edges.

scholarly journals Female in-nest chatter song increases predation

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 20150513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Kleindorfer ◽  
Christine Evans ◽  
Katharina Mahr
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Fitness Cost ◽  
Fertile Period ◽  
Male Song ◽  
Song Rate ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Malurus Cyaneus

Female song is an ancestral trait in songbirds, yet extant females generally sing less than males. Here, we examine sex differences in the predation cost of singing behaviour. The superb fairy-wren ( Malurus cyaneus ) is a Southern Hemisphere songbird; males and females provision the brood and produce solo song year-round. Both sexes had higher song rate during the fertile period and lower song rate during incubation and chick feeding. Females were more likely than males to sing close to or inside the nest. For this reason, female but not male song rate predicted egg and nestling predation. This study identifies a high fitness cost of song when a parent bird attends offspring inside a nest and explains gender differences in singing when there are gender differences in parental care.

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