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Sex differences in vocal learning in birds

Nature volume 411, pages 257–258 (2001)Cite this article

Young females pick up songs much faster than males but are not so versatile later on.

Abstract

A young songbird develops its songs by imitating adults1, just as human infants acquire speech, listening to and memorizing adult songs during an early sensitive phase and then practising its vocalizations until they match the memory formed earlier2. Here I investigate whether patterns of song learning differ between the sexes among northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), one of a few temperate species in which both sexes sing, rather than just the males. I find that females learn the same number of songs as males but in less than one-third of the time; however, auditory experience is not essential for males to develop their songs, whereas it is necessary for females to do so.

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Figure 1: Gender differences in vocal learning in female songbirds.

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Author notes

  1. Ayako Yamaguchi

    Present address: Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut, 06520, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Communication Laboratory, University of California, Davis, 95616, California, USA

    Ayako Yamaguchi

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  1. Ayako Yamaguchi
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Correspondence to Ayako Yamaguchi.

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Yamaguchi, A. Sex differences in vocal learning in birds. Nature 411, 257–258 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35077143

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