Fighting talk: complex song elicits more aggressive responses in a vocally complex songbird

Ibis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 160 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel D. Hill ◽  
Dianne H. Brunton ◽  
Michael G. Anderson ◽  
Weihong Ji
Keyword(s):  
Complex Song

scholarly journals Losses of female song with changes from tropical to temperate breeding in the New World blackbirds

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1664) ◽  
pp. 1971-1980 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jordan Price ◽  
Scott M. Lanyon ◽  
Kevin E. Omland
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
New World ◽  
Female Song ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Apparent Relationship ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The Tropics

Birds in which both sexes produce complex songs are thought to be more common in the tropics than in temperate areas, where typically only males sing. Yet the role of phylogeny in this apparent relationship between female song and latitude has never been examined. Here, we reconstruct evolutionary changes in female song and breeding latitude in the New World blackbirds (Icteridae), a family with both temperate and tropical representatives. We provide strong evidence that members of this group have moved repeatedly from tropical to temperate breeding ranges and, furthermore, that these range shifts were associated with losses of female song more often than expected by chance. This historical perspective suggests that male-biased song production in many temperate species is the result not of sexual selection for complex song in males but of selection against such songs in females. Our results provide new insights into the differences we see today between tropical and temperate songbirds, and suggest that the role of sexual selection in the evolution of bird song might not be as simple as we think.

Neoproterozoic deposition and Triassic metamorphism of metasedimentary rocks in the Nam Co Complex, Song Ma Suture Zone, NW Vietnam

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bui V. Hau ◽  
Yoonsup Kim ◽  
Ngo X. Thanh ◽  
Tran T. Hai ◽  
Keewook Yi
Keyword(s):  
Suture Zone ◽  
Nam Co ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Complex Song

Asymmetry of tymbal action and structure in a cicada: a possible role in the production of complex songs

1998 ◽  
Vol 201 (5) ◽  
pp. 717-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
P J Fonseca ◽  
H-C Bennet Clark
Keyword(s):  
Peak Power ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Sound Radiation ◽  
Abdominal Sternite ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Morphological Asymmetry ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sound Pulses

The type 1 echeme of the song of the small European cicada Tympanistalna gastrica consists of a pair of loud IN-OUT pulses followed by a train of soft IN-OUT pulses. In all nine insects investigated, the right and left tymbals buckled inwards and outwards alternately, but the echeme started with the buckling of the right tymbal. Both the inward and the outward buckling movements produced single discrete sound pulses. <P> The loud IN pulses were produced with the tymbal tensor muscle relaxed. They were approximately 10 dB louder than the loud OUT pulses and than the soft IN and OUT pulses. The period between the right loud IN and OUT pulses (3.75+/-0.31 ms) (mean +/- s.d.) was significantly shorter than between the left loud IN and OUT pulses (4.09+/-0.28 ms). The period between the loud IN and OUT pulses was significantly shorter than the period between the soft IN and OUT pulses, which was similar on both sides (mean for the right tymbal 5.54+/-0.20 ms, mean for the left tymbal 5.30+/-0.51 ms). <P> Measured at the tymbal, the power spectrum of the right loud IN pulses showed major components between 4 and 8 kHz as well as around 11.7 kHz. That of the left loud IN pulse had approximately 10 dB less power at 4 kHz and similar power at 7-8 kHz, with a further louder peak at around 10.8 kHz. The loud OUT pulses and all subsequent IN and OUT soft pulses showed very little power at 4 and 8 kHz, but all showed a spectral peak at approximately 13 kHz. The soft OUT pulses had similar pulse envelopes to the preceding IN pulses, which they closely mirrored. <P> Measured at the fourth abdominal sternite, only the right loud IN pulse produced peak power at 4 kHz. The transfer function between the tymbal sound and that at sternite 4 was maximal at 4 kHz for the right loud IN pulse and showed a peak at this frequency for both loud and soft IN and OUT pulses. The 4 kHz components of all pulses, and particularly that of the right loud IN pulse, which has the loudest 4 kHz component, excited sympathetic sound radiation from the abdominal sternite region. <P> Measured at the tympanal opercula, both loud IN pulses produced peaks at 7-8 kHz of similar power. The transfer functions between the tymbal sound and that at the tympanal opercula showed peaks of power at this frequency range for both loud and soft IN and OUT pulses, suggesting that this component excites sympathetic radiation via the tympana. <P> Components of the sound pulses produced by one tymbal are also transmitted via the contralateral tymbal. The pulses transmitted during both loud IN pulses had ragged envelopes, but the soft IN pulses and all OUT pulses were transmitted as clean coherent pulses with slow build-up and slow decay, suggesting that the ipsilateral tymbal excited a sympathetic resonance in the contralateral one. <P> The tymbals of T. gastrica have two unusual features. At the dorsal end of rib 2, there is a horizontal bar that extends anteriorly over rib 3 and posteriorly over rib 1 to the dorsal end of the tymbal plate. This bar appears to couple the three ribs so that they buckle in unison. The resilin sheet at the ventral ends of ribs 1, 2 and 3 was significantly wider, dorso-ventrally, in the right tymbal than in the left in eight insects that were measured (mean right-to-left ratio, 1.37). <P> The asymmetry between the right and left loud IN pulses correlates with the morphological asymmetry of the tymbals. The complexities of the song in T. gastrica appear to result from the preferential excitation of sound radiation from the abdomen surface or via the tympana by components of the distinct pulses produced by the asymmetrical tymbals and from the tymbals themselves. <P> Moribund or fatigued insects were successively unable to produce the right loud pulse and then the left loud pulse. The complex song may in this way act as an honest signal of male fitness.

Transmission of high-frequency vocalizations from hummingbirds living in diverse habitats

2020 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-160
Author(s):  
F G Duque ◽  
C A Rodriguez-Saltos ◽  
M F Monteros ◽  
W Wilczynski
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Narrow Frequency Range ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands

Abstract Some species of Andean hummingbirds produce high-frequency vocalizations which exceed the vocal range of most birds. They also challenge our understanding of the role of habitat structure in the evolution of vocal signals because these hummingbirds live in strikingly different habitats, ranging from cloud forest to high-altitude grasslands. Although these vocalizations are produced at high frequencies, they exhibit considerable variation in frequency content and temporal structure. The calls of the hummingbirds from the cloud forest are simpler and have a narrow frequency range compared to the complex song of the grasslands hummingbird. We hypothesized that each of the three high-frequency vocalizations is adapted for transmission in their habitat. We characterized the transmission of high-frequency vocal signals in the cloud forest and in the grasslands. All vocalizations attenuated and degraded substantially at short distances, suggesting that they are adapted for short-range communication. The simple vocalizations of the cloud-forest species transmitted better in both environments compared to the complex song of the grasslands hummingbird, probably due to relaxed constraints for high-frequency sounds in open habitats.

THE COMPLEX SONG DUET OF THE PLAIN WREN

The Condor ◽  
10.1650/7208 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel I. Mann ◽  
Lorraine Marshall-Ball ◽  
Peter J. B. Slater
Keyword(s):  
Complex Song

Complex Organization of the Warbling Song in the European Starling Sturnus Vulgaris

Behaviour ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 107 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 138-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.F. Jenkins ◽  
M. Adret-Hausberger
Keyword(s):  
Sturnus Vulgaris ◽  
European Starling ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Sequential Organization ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Complex Organization ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Song Sequence

Male starlings sing two very different categories of song: whistles and warbles. The present study describes the structure and the organization of warbling song in individuals from varied geographical origins. In all cases, warbling is shown to be an extremely complex song in which there is much contrast: very different notes follow each other and are even superimposed. Higher levels of organizations are present: notes are grouped in repeating units, the motifs, each of which is sung in bouts of 1 to 12 repetitions, and finally these bouts show a clear sequential organization. A certain amount of variability occurs at each of these levels: slight variations are seen from one rendition of a given motif to the next; the number of repetitions of each motif varies from one song sequence to another and the sequential organization of bouts seems to be able to vary seasonally. All these characteristics were found in all individuals. Nevertheless, warbling appears to be an essentially individual song. Beyond two or three species-specific motifs, the others in the repertoire are individually characteristic. The beginnings and endings of the songs are clearly defined commencing usually with an individual motif whilst ending with a species-specific motif. We observed marked differences between individuals in repertoire size, extending from about 20 to more than 35 different motifs. This is the only measure of the repertoire that we have been able to define for this continuous song.

scholarly journals How to identify dear enemies: the group signature in the complex song of the skylark Alauda arvensis

2008 ◽  
Vol 211 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Briefer ◽  
T. Aubin ◽  
K. Lehongre ◽  
F. Rybak
Keyword(s):  
Group Signature ◽  
Alauda Arvensis ◽  
Complex Song

scholarly journals Blowin' in Birdland: Improvisation and the Australian Pied Butcherbird

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 79-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hollis Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Species Analysis ◽  
The Creation

This paper challenges the assumption that improvisation is a process unique to humans. Despite the general reluctance of biologists to consider birdsong “music,” they routinely comment on improvisation found in the signals of songbirds. The Australian pied butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) is such a species. Analysis (including transcriptions and sonograms) of solo song, duets and mimicry illustrates their remarkable preoccupation with novelty and variety, and traces improvisation's role in the creation of their complex song culture. The author suggests further zoömusicological case studies for the relevance this research could have to other human (musical) capacities.

Male Song as a Cue for Mate Choice in the European Starling

Behaviour ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 116 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 210-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudolf Frans Verheyen ◽  
Marcel Eens ◽  
Rianne Pinxten
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
European Starling ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Song Repertoire ◽  
Bout Length ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Song Types ◽  
Older Males

AbstractThis study had two aims. First, we looked at individual differences in song characteristics between males of the European starling, and we related song behaviour to factors such as male age, pairing date, polygyny and male breeding success. Second, we experimentally tested whether song has an effect on female mating decisions. 1. During the breeding season, male starlings sing a very long and complex song consisting of a rapid succession of large number of different song types. We observed marked differences between males in average song bout length (a song bout was defined as a period of at least five seconds of song containing no pauses larger than 1.5 seconds) and in song repertoire size. Average song bout lengths ranged from 16 to 35 seconds. The individual repertoire size ranged from 23 to 67 song types. Repertoire size and average song bout length were positively correlated. 2. Both in the field and in captivity, yearling males sang shorter average song bout lengths and had smaller repertoire sizes than older males. 3. Males singing longer average song bouts and having larger repertoire sizes attracted females for pairing before their rivals with shorter average song bouts and smaller repertoire sizes.

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