scholarly journals Open-ended song learning in a hummingbird

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 20130625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Araya-Salas ◽  
Timothy Wright
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
First Year ◽  
Song Type ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Song Types ◽  
Avian Group

Vocal learning in birds is typically restricted to a sensitive period early in life, with the few exceptions reported in songbirds and parrots. Here, we present evidence of open-ended vocal learning in a hummingbird, the third avian group with vocal learning. We studied vocalizations at four leks of the long-billed hermit Phaethornis longirostris during a four-year period. Individuals produce a single song repertoire, although several song-types can coexist at a single lek. We found that nine of 49 birds recorded on multiple days (18%) changed their song-type between consecutive recordings. Three of these birds replaced song-types twice. Moreover, the earliest estimated age when song replacement occurred ranged from 186 to 547 days (mean = 307 days) and all nine birds who replaced song-types produced a crystallized song before replacement. The findings indicate that song-type replacement is distinct from an initial early learning sensitive period. As half of lekking males do not survive past the first year of life in this species, song learning may well extend throughout the lifespan. This behaviour would be convergent to vocal learning programmes found in parrots and songbirds.

AUDITORY EXPERIENCE DOES NOT SHAPE SEXUAL PREFERENCES FOR SONGS IN FEMALE NORTHERN CARDINALS

Behaviour ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayako Yamaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Memory Trace ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Song Type ◽  
Vocal Performance ◽  
Vocal Production ◽  
Auditory Experience ◽  
Song Types ◽  
Northern Cardinals

AbstractBird song is typically used by males to attract females. As a consequence of the vocal learning process, the acoustic morphology of male songs shows marked geographic variation. Whether females use variation in male songs to choose mates has been controversial (reviewed by Catchpole & Slater, 1995). In some species, the song types that females produce when treated hormonally have been considered to be the song types they prefer in the context of mate choice. To examine this notion, I investigated the song type preferences of female northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) using a more direct measure, copulation solicitation display. Unlike females of many other species of songbirds in the Temperate zone, female cardinals naturally develop songs by imitating adults just as males do, allowing direct identification of when and what song types are memorized by females for vocal production. I sought to determine if the memory trace formed for vocal performance is identical with the memory trace that guides song type preference in a sexual context, and whether females truly form any song type preference based on auditory experience during the first year of their lives. To address these questions, audio-video playback experiments were carried out on captive-raised adult cardinals whose complete auditory history was known. The results showed that female cardinals did not come to prefer any song type based on experience; they responded equally to all conspecific song types. Thus, memory formed for vocal production in females is not equal to song type preferred in sexual context. The results suggest that variation in song types is not important for mate choice in cardinals.

Song Types in a Population of Great Tits (Parus Major): Their Distribution, Abundance and Acquisition By Individuals

Behaviour ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 79 (2-4) ◽  
pp. 126-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter K. Mcgregor ◽  
John R. Krebs
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Song Type ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Song Dialects ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Song Acquisition ◽  
Song Types

AbstractThis 6-year study of song acquisition in a marked population of great tits suggests that songs are learned both before and after dispersal, songs are not learned from fathers. The spatial and temporal distribution of songs in the population is also discussed. There is a decline in the proportion of the song repertoire shared with increasing distance from a male, but there is no consistent pattern of song type grouping, some songs are clumped while others are not. Size of repertoire is not related to male age. These results are discussed in relation to laboratory studies of song learning, song dialects and functional hypotheses concerning song learning.

scholarly journals 757. Association between cumulative febrile, respiratory and diarrheal illness in the first year of life and neurodevelopmental and growth outcomes among a cohort of children in rural Guatemala

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S425-S426
Author(s):  
Daniel Olson ◽  
Molly Lamb ◽  
Amy Connery ◽  
Desiree Bauer ◽  
Alejandra Paniagua-Avila ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Education ◽  
Febrile Illness ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Surveillance Period ◽  
Final Study ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Height For Age

Abstract Background Recurrent infections are associated with neurodevelopmental (ND) delay in infants, but the primary drivers are poorly understood. Leveraging an infant cohort from rural Guatemala designed to evaluate the effects of post-natal Zika virus on ND (DMID 16-0057), we evaluated the association between cumulative illness and ND delay and stunting. Methods Infants enrolled at 0-3 months of age underwent weekly at-home surveillance for caregiver-reported syndromic illness, including cough, fever and vomiting/diarrhea for a 12-month period. Anthropometric assessments and ND testing by Guatemalan psychologists using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) were perforrmed at 12-15 months of age. Multivariable generalized linear regression models were used to test associations between syndromic illness in infancy, 12-15-month MSEL Early Learning Composite (ELC) Score, and stunting (height-for-age < -2 SD) at 12-15 months. Results The cohort (n=425) had a mean enrollment age of 1.3 months; 202 (48%) were female, 387 (91%) self-reported a literate mother, and 301 (71%) were breastfeeding at study completion. Infants had reported illness for a median of 16 weeks during the surveillance period; cough was reported most frequently (median=11 weeks, range=0-37 weeks). Lower maternal education (p=0.007) and literacy (p=0.002) as well as infant age (p=0.007) and male gender (p=0.004) were associated with MSEL ELC Score <85 (-1 SD). After adjusting for gender, breastfeeding, age, and maternal literacy, the cumulative number of weeks with reported cough (p=0.0009), fever (p=0.0001), or any syndromic illness (p=0.0007) were associated with decreased 12-month MSEL ECL Score; there was no association with diarrhea/vomiting (p=0.36). There was no association between caregiver-reported syndromic illnesses (any type) and stunting at final study visit. Conclusion In a cohort of Guatemalan infants, cumulative fever and cough episodes were significantly associated with lower MSEL ELC Score, whereas there was no association with diarrhea/vomiting. In this low-resource community, these findings highlight the potential negative ND consequences of febrile illness and persistent cough in the first year of life. NIAID Contract HHSN272201300015I Task Order HHSN27200013 (Co-PIs: FMM and EJA). Disclosures Molly Lamb, PhD, BioFire (Grant/Research Support) Evan J. Anderson, MD, Sanofi Pasteur (Scientific Research Study Investigator)

Silent Synapses in a Thalamo-Cortical Circuit Necessary for Song Learning in Zebra Finches

2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 3698-3707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah W. Bottjer
Keyword(s):  
Failure Rate ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Relative Number ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Vocal Behavior ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Silent Synapses

Developmental changes in synaptic properties may act to limit neural and behavioral plasticity associated with sensitive periods. This study characterized synaptic maturation in a glutamatergic thalamo-cortical pathway that is necessary for vocal learning in songbirds. Lesions of the projection from medial dorsolateral nucleus of the thalamus (DLM) to the cortical nucleus lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium (LMAN) greatly disrupt song behavior in juvenile birds during early stages of vocal learning. However, such lesions lose the ability to disrupt vocal behavior in normal birds at 60–70 days of age, around the time that selective auditory tuning for each bird’s own song (BOS) emerges in LMAN neurons. This pattern has suggested that LMAN is involved in processing song-related information and evaluating the degree to which vocal motor output matches the tutor song to be learned. Analysis of reversed excitatory postsynaptic currents at DLM→LMAN synapses in in vitro slice preparations revealed a pronounced N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated component in both juvenile and adult cells with no developmental decrease in the relative contribution of NMDARs to synaptic transmission. However, the synaptic failure rate at DLM→LMAN synapses in juvenile males during the sensitive period for song learning was significantly lower at depolarized potentials than at hyperpolarized potentials. In contrast, the failure rate at DLM→LMAN synapses did not differ at hyper- versus depolarized holding potentials in adult males that had completed the acquisition of a stereotyped song. This pattern indicates that juvenile cells have a higher incidence of silent (NMDAR-only) synapses, which are postsynaptically silent at hyperpolarized potentials due to the voltage-dependent gating of NMDARs. Thus the decreased involvement of the LMAN pathway in vocal behavior is mirrored by a decline in the incidence of silent synapses but not by changes in the relative number of NMDA and AMPA receptors at DLM→LMAN synapses. These findings suggest that a developmental decrease in silent synapses within LMAN may represent a neural correlate of behavioral plasticity during song learning.

scholarly journals Song preferences predict the quality of vocal learning in zebra finches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Rodriguez-Saltos ◽  
Aditya Bhise ◽  
Prasanna Karur ◽  
Ramsha Nabihah Khan ◽  
Sumin Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Schedule ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Vocal Development ◽  
Song Preferences

In songbirds, learning to sing is a highly social process that likely involves social reward. Here, we hypothesized that the degree to which a juvenile songbird learns a song depends on the degree to which it finds that song rewarding to hear during vocal development. We tested this hypothesis by measuring song preferences in young birds during song learning and then analyzing their adult songs. Song preferences were measured in an operant key-pressing assay. Juvenile male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) had access to two keys, each of which was associated with a higher likelihood of playing the song of their father or that of another familiar adult ("neighbor"). To minimize the effects of exposure on learning, we implemented a reinforcement schedule that allowed us to detect preferences while balancing exposure to each song. On average, the juveniles significantly preferred the father's song early during song learning, before they were themselves singing. At around post-hatch day 60, their preference shifted to the neighbor's song. At the end of the song learning period, we recorded the juveniles' songs and compared them to the father's and the neighbor's song. All of the birds copied father's song. The accuracy with which the father's song was imitated was positively correlated with the peak strength of the preference for the father's song during the sensitive period. Our results show that preference for a social stimulus, in this case a vocalization, predicted social learning during development.

scholarly journals High Level of Song Sharing in an Eastern Population of Song Sparrow (Melospiza Melodia)

The Auk ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer R. Foote ◽  
Colleen A. Barber
Keyword(s):  
Song Learning ◽  
Melospiza Melodia ◽  
Song Sparrow ◽  
First Year ◽  
Eastern Population ◽  
Song Sharing ◽  
Song Sparrows ◽  
The Mean ◽  
High Level ◽  
Song Types

Abstract Using shared songs is believed to be an integral part of neighbor communication and territory establishment strategies among many avian species with repertoires. Previous studies of two western subspecies of Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) reported a high level of song sharing among neighboring males, whereas studies of an eastern subspecies have reported a very low level. The purpose of our study was to investigate another population of the eastern subspecies to determine whether higher song-sharing levels existed within its range. Every song in the repertoire of 29 males was compared with the songs of all other males to assess the number of shared songs. For each male, we calculated the mean song-sharing level with neighbors and non-neighbors. Males shared, on average, 33% of their repertoire with neighbors, significantly more than they shared with non-neighbors (27% of their repertoire). Two first-year males learned whole song types from several individuals and preferentially learned the song types shared among those individuals. Our results suggest that the eastern and western subspecies may not differ genetically in the way they learn songs, because song-sharing levels and song learning in our population were more similar to those of the western subspecies than to those of other populations within its own subspecies. Song-sharing differences among eastern populations may be explained instead by factors acting at the level of individual populations. Niveau Élevé de Chants Partagés chez une Population de l'Est de Melospiza melodia

scholarly journals 1407. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in the first year of life in a cohort of infants in rural Guatemala

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S711-S712
Author(s):  
Flor M Munoz ◽  
Molly Lamb ◽  
Jesse Waggoner ◽  
alejandra Paniagua-avila ◽  
Desiree Bauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Relative Risk ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Neonatal Period ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Cmv Infection ◽  
Research Support ◽  
Culturally Adapted ◽  
First Year Of Life

Abstract Background Little is known about the epidemiology of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in low resource countries. We evaluated the frequency and effects of post-natal CMV infection in infants from a prospective cohort study designed to assess the effects of post-natal Zika on neurodevelopment (ND) in rural Guatemala. Infants with CMV infection (blue bars) were older compared CMV-negative (red bars) infants. Methods Infants were evaluated for CMV infection by PCR using urine samples collected at 0-3 months of age. ND testing was conducted by local psychologists using a culturally adapted Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). We explored associations between CMV infection and microcephaly, neurological, visual and hearing deficits, malnutrition and ND outcomes at 1 year of age. Results The infant cohort (N = 469) had a mean age at enrollment of 1.5 (SD 0.75) months; 47% were female and 71% were breastfeeding at 1 year. A total of 103 (22%) were CMV positive and the majority of these (97%) were > 4 weeks of age at testing. Infants > 4 weeks of age were more likely to be CMV positive (P < 0.0001) (Figure). Gender was not correlated with CMV positivity. Among children with head circumference (HC) measurements, microcephaly (HC < 2 SD) was present in 9/87 (10.3%) CMV positive and 35/338 (10.4%) CMV negative infants at 0-3 months of age (p =0.99). Among 438 infants who underwent screening for hearing deficits and a complete ophthalmologic evaluation, none of the CMV positive children had abnormal vision or hearing. Abnormal neurological exams in the first year of life occurred in 50/100 (50%) CMV positive and 166/365 (45.5%) CMV negative infants (p =0.56). There was no association between CMV infection at 0-3 months and MSEL overall or subdomain scores at 1 year (overall Relative risk (RR) 1.02, 95% CI 0.99-1.05, p=0.16). Malnutrition at 0-3 months (RR: 1.53, 95% CI 0.89-2.66, p = 0.13) and 1 year (RR: 1.10, 95% CI 0.77-1.58, p=0.59) was not associated with CMV infection at 0-3 months. Conclusion In a cohort of Guatemalan infants, postnatal CMV infection was common (22%) and more likely to occur after the neonatal period. There was no correlation between CMV infection and microcephaly at 0-3 months or at 1 year of age, nor with abnormal nutritional, neurologic, ophthalmologic, hearing or ND deficits at 1 year of age. This is the first epidemiologic report on CMV infection in early life in rural Guatemala. Disclosures Molly Lamb, PhD, BioFire (Grant/Research Support)

scholarly journals Typical versions of learned swamp sparrow song types are more effective signals than are less typical versions

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1785) ◽  
pp. 20140252 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Lachlan ◽  
R. C. Anderson ◽  
S. Peters ◽  
W. A. Searcy ◽  
S. Nowicki
Keyword(s):  
Computational Methods ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Song Type ◽  
Syllable Type ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Swamp Sparrow ◽  
Melospiza Georgiana ◽  
Cluster A ◽  
Song Types

The learned songs of songbirds often cluster into population-wide types. Here, we test the hypothesis that male and female receivers respond differently to songs depending on how typical of those types they are. We used computational methods to cluster a large sample of swamp sparrow ( Melospiza georgiana ) songs into types and to estimate the degree to which individual song exemplars are typical of these types. We then played exemplars to male and female receivers. Territorial males responded more aggressively and captive females performed more sexual displays in response to songs that are highly typical than to songs that are less typical. Previous studies have demonstrated that songbirds distinguish song types that are typical for their species, or for their population, from those that are not. Our results show that swamp sparrows also discriminate typical from less typical exemplars within learned song-type categories. In addition, our results suggest that more typical versions of song types function better, at least in male–female communication. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that syllable type typicality serves as a proxy for the assessment of song learning accuracy.

scholarly journals Song Sharing by Yellow Warblers Differs Between two Modes of Singing: Implications for Song Function

The Condor ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin D. Beebee
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Relationship ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Song Type ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Dendroica Petechia ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Song Sharing ◽  
Yellow Warblers ◽  
Song Types

Abstract I investigated the pattern of song sharing for the two singing modes (Type I and Type II) of Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia). There is indirect evidence that males use Type I singing to attract females, and Type II singing to interact with other males, but how males use these singing modes for these functions is unknown. One way in which males might use Type II singing to interact with neighboring males is through the use of “shared songs:” males might preferentially sing songs they share with neighboring males to engage in song type matching or repertoire matching. I tested the prediction that Yellow Warblers should share more of their Type II songs with neighbors compared to non-neighbors, but that there should be no such relationship for Type I songs. I found that males in a Pennsylvania population shared significantly more of their Type II song repertoire with neighbors than with non-neighbors, and that sharing between males declined with distance between their territories. There was no spatial relationship for sharing Type I song types. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that Yellow Warblers use Type II singing to interact with other males using strategies such as song type and repertoire matching. Dendroica petechia Comparte sus Cantos de Dos Modos Diferentes: Implicancias para la Función del Canto Resumen. Investigué el modo en que Dendroica petechia comparte sus cantos en relación a dos maneras de cantar (Tipo I y Tipo II). Existe evidencia indirecta que los machos usan cantos de Tipo I para atraer a las hembras y cantos de Tipo II para interactuar con otros machos, pero se desconoce cómo los machos usan estos cantos para estas funciones. Una manera en la que los machos podrían usar cantos de Tipo II para interactuar con machos vecinos es a través del uso de “canciones compartidas:” los machos podrían preferentemente cantar canciones que comparten con machos vecinos para establecer el uso de un tipo de canción o repertorio semejante. Puse a prueba la predicción que D. petechia debería compartir una mayor parte de sus canciones de Tipo II con machos vecinos que con no-vecinos, pero que no debería existir esta relación para canciones de Tipo I. Encontré que los machos de una población de Pensilvania comparten una parte significativamente mayor de su repertorio de canciones de Tipo II con vecinos que con no-vecinos, y que el grado en que los machos comparten canciones disminuye con la distancia entre sus territorios. No hubo una relación espacial en los tipos de canciones compartidas de Tipo I. Estos resultados son consistentes con la hipótesis que D. petechia usa canciones de Tipo II como estrategia para interactuar con otros machos empleando tipo de canciones o repertorios semejantes.

scholarly journals Auditory experience refines cortico-basal ganglia inputs to motor cortex via remapping of single axons during vocal learning in zebra finches

2012 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 1142-1156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa C. Miller-Sims ◽  
Sarah W. Bottjer
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Cortical Region ◽  
Topographic Organization ◽  
Magnocellular Nucleus ◽  
Auditory Experience ◽  
Dependent Processes

Experience-dependent changes in neural connectivity underlie developmental learning and result in life-long changes in behavior. In songbirds axons from the cortical region LMANcore (core region of lateral magnocellular nucleus of anterior nidopallium) convey the output of a basal ganglia circuit necessary for song learning to vocal motor cortex [robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA)]. This axonal projection undergoes remodeling during the sensitive period for learning to achieve topographic organization. To examine how auditory experience instructs the development of connectivity in this pathway, we compared the morphology of individual LMANcore→RA axon arbors in normal juvenile songbirds to those raised in white noise. The spatial extent of axon arbors decreased during the first week of vocal learning, even in the absence of normal auditory experience. During the second week of vocal learning axon arbors of normal birds showed a loss of branches and varicosities; in contrast, experience-deprived birds showed no reduction in branches or varicosities and maintained some arbors in the wrong topographic location. Thus both experience-independent and experience-dependent processes are necessary to establish topographic organization in juvenile birds, which may allow birds to modify their vocal output in a directed manner and match their vocalizations to a tutor song. Many LMANcore axons of juvenile birds, but not adults, extended branches into dorsal arcopallium (Ad), a region adjacent to RA that is part of a parallel basal ganglia pathway also necessary for vocal learning. This transient projection provides a point of integration between the two basal ganglia pathways, suggesting that these branches convey corollary discharge signals as birds are actively engaged in learning.

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