Showing papers by "Peter J. B. Slater published in 2008"

Song development in chffinches: what is learnt and when?

Abstract: Summary Male Chaffinches share no more songs with territorial neighbours than would be expected by chance, suggesting that some song learning occurs before young birds set up their territories. Hand-reared birds are capable of learning song both in their first spring and in the previous summer one young bird produced a good copy of a song which he had only heard as a nestling and fledgling eight months previously. While song learning involves accurate copying of individual elements, the variation in number in elements in a phrase and the temporal pattern of singing shown by hand-reared birds were similar to that of wild birds rather than being influenced by the tutor tapes.

Does chaffinch Fringilla coelebs song vary with the habitat in which it is sung

Abstract: The acoustic adaptation hypothesis suggests that song learning in birds is advantageous because it enables song to become adapted to the habitat in which it is sung A comparison was made among song types recorded from male Chaffinches Fringilla coelebs at a variety of sites in open scrub and in coniferous plantations, as well as in mature pine forest Although some significant differences were found among habitats, these were few and there was no systematic relationship with features of the environment This study does not therefore support the acoustic adaptation hypothesis

Versatility and continuity in the songs of thrushes Turdus spp.

Abstract: A relationship between continuity and versatility was proposed by Hartshorne as a general feature of song organization in birds and argued to be linked to the avoidance of habituation (the monotony threshold principle). Thrushes of the genus Turdus vary greatly in song repertoire size, from the Redwing with a single song phrase to the Song Thrush which normally possesses well over 100 (Table 1), so that this group is well suited to looking for such a relationship. Recordings of 14 Turdus species were used to do so. Species in which successive songs do differ were indeed found to sing with shorter intervals between songs, though no equivalent relationship was found at the level of individual sound elements. There was a suggestion that species might fall into two contrasting groups without intermediates, one with continuous and highly varied songs and the other with discrete and simple songs. It is suggested that the relationship between continuity and versatility is a real phemomenon but that it is unlikely to be explained in the way that Hartshorne proposed. More likely is the hypothesis that continuous and varied songs have evolved primarily as mate attractants through sexual selection, while the principal role of discrete and simple songs is in communication between males.

Repertoire sharing by the individual and the pair: Insights into duet function and development in the plain wren Thryothorus modestus

Abstract: Although both repertoire sharing and individual variation have been studied widely in male solo song, few studies have investigated these aspects of song in a species that performs complex duets. This study examined song repertoires of both males and females of the plain wren (canebrake subspecies, Thryothorus modestus zeledoni), which performs antiphonal duets, and tested for patterns of repertoire sharing at the level of the individual and of the pair. We suggest that both males and females of the plain wren develop their phrase repertoires by direct imitation from other individuals of their sex, but that males, who may exist for a period as ‘floaters’ after dispersal, learn their songs from a wider pool of tutors than do females. In contrast to considerable individual repertoire sharing, whole duet types were very rarely shared between pairs, despite the potential for this to occur. This suggests that duet types are developed within the pair without reference to other pairs and the implications of this for duet functions are discussed.