Abstract
Song-matching has been hypothesized to be a signal of aggressive intentions whereby matching an opponent signals that the singer is likely to attack. Theory predicts that an aggressive signal should impose a cost that enforces the signal's reliability. A receiver-dependent cost imposed by the matched bird's aggressive retaliation has been proposed for song-matching. We tested for such a cost for partial song-matching in an eastern population of song sparrows where males lack the shared song types necessary for song type matching, but can perform partial song-matching using shared song segments. We tested aggressive response, as measured by average distance to a playback speaker, to partial-matching songs and non-matching songs. We predicted a stronger aggressive response to partial-matching songs, as has been shown for whole song-matching in western song sparrow populations. The birds in our study responded no differently to partial-matching and non-matching songs. Neither the distance to the playback speaker nor singing responses differed between playback treatments. Our results do not support a receiver-dependent cost to partial song-matching, as would be expected if partial-matching is a direct threat. Instead, we suggest that partial song-matching functions as a signal of attention.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 347-363 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Behaviour |
| Volume | 145 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2008 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Cite this
Testing the function of song-matching in birds : Responses of eastern male song sparrows Melospiza melodia to partial song-matching. / Anderson, Rindy C.; Searcy, William; Nowicki, Stephen.
In: Behaviour, Vol. 145, No. 3, 01.03.2008, p. 347-363.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Testing the function of song-matching in birds
T2 - Responses of eastern male song sparrows Melospiza melodia to partial song-matching
AU - Anderson, Rindy C.
AU - Searcy, William
AU - Nowicki, Stephen
PY - 2008/3/1
Y1 - 2008/3/1
N2 - Song-matching has been hypothesized to be a signal of aggressive intentions whereby matching an opponent signals that the singer is likely to attack. Theory predicts that an aggressive signal should impose a cost that enforces the signal's reliability. A receiver-dependent cost imposed by the matched bird's aggressive retaliation has been proposed for song-matching. We tested for such a cost for partial song-matching in an eastern population of song sparrows where males lack the shared song types necessary for song type matching, but can perform partial song-matching using shared song segments. We tested aggressive response, as measured by average distance to a playback speaker, to partial-matching songs and non-matching songs. We predicted a stronger aggressive response to partial-matching songs, as has been shown for whole song-matching in western song sparrow populations. The birds in our study responded no differently to partial-matching and non-matching songs. Neither the distance to the playback speaker nor singing responses differed between playback treatments. Our results do not support a receiver-dependent cost to partial song-matching, as would be expected if partial-matching is a direct threat. Instead, we suggest that partial song-matching functions as a signal of attention.
AB - Song-matching has been hypothesized to be a signal of aggressive intentions whereby matching an opponent signals that the singer is likely to attack. Theory predicts that an aggressive signal should impose a cost that enforces the signal's reliability. A receiver-dependent cost imposed by the matched bird's aggressive retaliation has been proposed for song-matching. We tested for such a cost for partial song-matching in an eastern population of song sparrows where males lack the shared song types necessary for song type matching, but can perform partial song-matching using shared song segments. We tested aggressive response, as measured by average distance to a playback speaker, to partial-matching songs and non-matching songs. We predicted a stronger aggressive response to partial-matching songs, as has been shown for whole song-matching in western song sparrow populations. The birds in our study responded no differently to partial-matching and non-matching songs. Neither the distance to the playback speaker nor singing responses differed between playback treatments. Our results do not support a receiver-dependent cost to partial song-matching, as would be expected if partial-matching is a direct threat. Instead, we suggest that partial song-matching functions as a signal of attention.
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U2 - 10.1163/156853908783402876
DO - 10.1163/156853908783402876
M3 - Article
VL - 145
SP - 347
EP - 363
JO - Behaviour
JF - Behaviour
SN - 0005-7959
IS - 3
ER -