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Budka M, Uyeme JE, Osiejuk TS. Females occasionally create duets with males but they never sing solo-year-round singing behaviour in an Afrotropical songbird. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11405. [PMID: 37452177 PMCID: PMC10349113 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38552-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Our knowledge of birdsong mainly comes from studies focused on male songs produced in a short breeding period, even though we know that sedentary species sing year-round, female song is quite widespread and many species sing collectively creating duets and choruses. In this study we focused on daily and seasonal changes in singing activity of an endemic, sedentary, duetting, Afrotropical songbird-the Bangwa forest warbler. We collected soundscape recordings in six recording locations and used singing activity index to examine how vocal activity of males and females varies daily and seasonally and how it correlates with the rainfall. We found that Bangwa forest warblers sing year-round, yet they do it more in wet than in dry season. The rapid increase of singing activity occurs after first rain, at the beginning of the rainy season. Males sing significantly more than females. Females never sing solo, however, in 13% of songs they create duets by joining male solos. The pattern of daily singing activity is sex-specific and seasonally variable, with two peaks (dawn and dusk) observed in males and only one in females (dawn). In Bangwa forest warbler male singing behaviour is similar to that of many songbirds, suggesting that territory defence and female attraction as main functions of singing. Females, which create duets and never sing solo may use songs in mate guarding, signalling commitment, resource defence or intersex territory defence. Duets observed year-round may suggest cooperative resource defence. Results of the study show that examining year-round singing behaviour is crucial to fully understand the evolution and functions of male and female songs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michał Budka
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61614, Poznań, Poland.
| | - John Emenike Uyeme
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61614, Poznań, Poland
| | - Tomasz Stanisław Osiejuk
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61614, Poznań, Poland
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Leitão AV, Mulder RA, Hall ML. Song functions for joint territory defence and within-pair communication in female and male lovely fairy-wrens. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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Austin VI, Dalziell AH, Langmore NE, Welbergen JA. Avian vocalisations: the female perspective. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:1484-1503. [PMID: 33797176 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Research on avian vocalisations has traditionally focused on male song produced by oscine passerines. However, accumulating evidence indicates that complex vocalisations can readily evolve outside the traditional contexts of mate attraction and territory defence by male birds, and yet the previous bias towards male song has shaped - and continues to shape - our understanding of avian communication as a whole. Accordingly, in this review we seek to address this imbalance by synthesising studies on female vocalisations from across signalling contexts throughout the Aves, and discuss the implications of recent empirical advances for our understanding of vocalisations in both sexes. This review reveals great structural and functional diversity among female vocalisations and highlights the important roles that vocalisations can play in mediating female-specific behaviours. However, fundamental gaps remain. While there are now several case studies that identify the function of female vocalisations, few quantify the associated fitness benefits. Additionally, very little is known about the role of vocal learning in the development of female vocalisations. Thus, there remains a pressing need to examine the function and development of all forms of vocalisations in female birds. In the light of what we now know about the functions and mechanisms of female vocalisations, we suggest that conventional male-biased definitions of songs and calls are inadequate for furthering our understanding of avian vocal communication more generally. Therefore, we propose two simple alternatives, both emancipated from the sex of the singer. The first distinguishes song from calls functionally as a sexually selected vocal signal, whilst the second distinguishes them mechanistically in terms of their underlying neurological processes. It is clear that more investigations are needed into the ultimate and proximate causes of female vocalisations; however, these are essential if we are to develop a holistic epistemology of avian vocal communication in both sexes, across ecological contexts and taxonomic divides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria I Austin
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, Ground Floor, Building R2, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
| | - Anastasia H Dalziell
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, Ground Floor, Building R2, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia.,Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.,Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850, U.S.A
| | - Naomi E Langmore
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, 46 Sullivan's Creek Road, Acton, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Justin A Welbergen
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, Ground Floor, Building R2, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
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Avendaño JE, Cadena CD. Territorial males do not discriminate between local and novel plumage phenotypes in a tropical songbird species complex: implications for the role of social selection in trait evolution. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-02976-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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Mentesana L, Moiron M, Guedes E, Cavalli E, Tassino B, Adreani NM. Defending as a unit: sex- and context-specific territorial defence in a duetting bird. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02891-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Dutour M, Ridley AR. Females sing more often and at higher frequencies than males in Australian magpies. Behav Processes 2020; 172:104045. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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Demko AD, Sosa-López JR, Mennill DJ. Subspecies discrimination on the basis of acoustic signals: a playback experiment in a Neotropical songbird. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.08.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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