Elsevier

Animal Behaviour

Volume 124, February 2017, Pages 233-246
Animal Behaviour

Special Issue: Mechanisms & Function
Birdsong learning as a social process

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.09.001Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Western song sparrows preferentially learn songs that their neighbours share.

  • Shared songs are critical in neighbour territory negotiations.

  • Survival studies suggest this song learning strategy benefits the song learner.

  • Song tutoring does not appear to benefit the song tutors.

  • Eastern song sparrows do not follow this strategy despite similar demographies.

This paper describes a 30-year investigation into the role of social and ecological factors affecting song learning in song sparrows, Melospiza melodia. It addresses the question of why song sparrows learn the songs they do, given that they are exposed to many more songs than they will keep for their final repertoire of 7–11 song types. A young song sparrow moves from his natal area at about 1 month of age, eventually settling in an area where he learns the songs of the resident males and attempts to establish his own territory. Birds that share many songs with their neighbours in their first breeding season (the spring following their hatch summer) survive for more years on territory than birds that do not. Many features of the song-learning process lead to a high level of sharing with first-year neighbours, including preferentially learning the songs of their tutor-neighbours who survive the winter, and learning songs that are shared by several tutors. Social interaction appears to be critical in song learning, but indirect effects (eavesdropping on adults countersinging) seem to be at least as important as direct interaction between the young bird and his tutor-neighbours. Although our evidence suggests that the song-learning strategy of young song sparrows is beneficial to them, a preliminary analysis suggests it may not benefit their tutors.

Section snippets

Background and methods

The song sparrow is a common species found throughout North America. Song sparrows have the most genetically distinct populations of any bird in North America. We are studying a subspecies (M. m. morphna) found in the Pacific Northwest. The total number of subspecies of song sparrow is much debated, but the most recent study puts the number at 25 (Patten & Pruett, 2009). This context must be kept in mind, since, as will be discussed later, there may be significant biological differences between

Song learning in western song sparrows

By a combination of field and laboratory studies, we have tried to characterize the song-learning strategy of song sparrows in our population. Note that in the following I use the word ‘tutor’ merely to designate an older bird from whom the young bird has learned songs (or could have potentially learned songs). The use of this term is not meant to imply that the tutor intended to teach the young bird songs, or that he benefited in some way by doing so. The focus here is primarily on the young

A Song-learning Strategy?

In summary, our field and laboratory studies taken together suggest that in his first year, a male song sparrow pursues a song-learning strategy correlated with his strategy of establishing and maintaining a territory. The young bird disperses from his natal area at about 30 days of age and moves to an area occupied by adult song sparrows. Adults sing until late July, when they go into moult and are silent for about a month; they resume singing in September, although at a much lower rate. Most

Acknowledgments

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Peter Marler, a true giant in the field of animal behaviour, and an inspiration for all researchers studying birdsong and the function and mechanisms of animal behaviour more generally. The published research from our group reviewed in this paper was conducted in accordance with the ASAB/ABS Guidelines for the treatment of animals in behavioural research and teaching, and with approval from the University of Washington Institutional Animal Care and Use

References (138)

  • M.D. Beecher et al.

    Functional aspects of song learning in songbirds

    Trends in Ecology & Evolution

    (2005)
  • M.D. Beecher et al.

    Bird song learning in an eavesdropping context

    Animal Behaviour

    (2007)
  • M.D. Beecher et al.

    The role of unshared songs in singing interactions between neighbouring song sparrows

    Animal Behaviour

    (2005)
  • M.D. Beecher et al.

    Song type matching between neighbouring song sparrows

    Animal Behaviour

    (2000)
  • M.D. Beecher et al.

    Territory tenure in song sparrows is related to song sharing with neighbours, but not to repertoire size

    Animal Behaviour

    (2000)
  • M.D. Beecher et al.

    Repertoire matching between neighbouring song sparrows

    Animal Behaviour

    (1996)
  • D.A. Bell et al.

    Song learning and vocal tradition in Nuttall's white-crowned sparrows

    Animal Behaviour

    (1998)
  • J.M. Burt et al.

    Alternative forms of song matching in song sparrows

    Animal Behaviour

    (2002)
  • J.M. Burt et al.

    Song type matching as threat: A test using interactive playback

    Animal Behaviour

    (2001)
  • M. Chaiken et al.

    Song acquisition in European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris: A comparison of the songs of live-tutored, tape-tutored, untutored, and wild-caught males

    Animal Behaviour

    (1993)
  • N.S. Clayton

    Song tutor choice in zebra finches

    Animal Behaviour

    (1987)
  • J.L. Craig et al.

    The evolution of complexity in broadcast song of passerines

    Journal of Theoretical Biology

    (1982)
  • J.M. Davis et al.

    The effect of natal experience on habitat preferences

    Trends in Ecology & Evolution

    (2004)
  • S. Elfström

    Fighting behaviour and strategy of rock pipit, Anthus petrosus, neighbours: Cooperative defence

    Animal Behaviour

    (1997)
  • M. Hughes et al.

    Song type sharing and territory tenure in eastern song sparrows: Implications for the evolution of song repertoires

    Animal Behaviour

    (2007)
  • J. Hyman et al.

    Territory owners discriminate between aggressive and nonaggressive neighbours

    Animal Behaviour

    (2006)
  • P.F. Jenkins

    Cultural transmission of song patterns and dialect development in a free-living bird population

    Animal Behaviour

    (1978)
  • A.H. Koetz et al.

    Spatial pattern of song element sharing and its implications for song learning in the chowchilla, Orthonyx spaldingii

    Animal Behaviour

    (2007)
  • D.E. Kroodsma et al.

    Repertoire size, auditory templates, and selective vocal learning in songbirds

    Animal Behaviour

    (1984)
  • D.E. Kroodsma et al.

    Sensitive phases for song learning: Effects of social interaction and individual variation

    Animal Behaviour

    (1984)
  • D.E. Kroodsma et al.

    Sedentary life style of Neotropical sedge wrens promotes song imitation

    Animal Behaviour

    (1999)
  • R.F. Lachlan et al.

    The evolution of conformity-enforcing behaviour in cultural communication systems

    Animal Behaviour

    (2004)
  • D.A. Nelson

    External validity and experimental design: The sensitive phase for song learning

    Animal Behaviour

    (1998)
  • Nelson

    Ecological influences on vocal development in the white-crowned sparrow

    Animal Behaviour

    (1999)
  • D.A. Nelson et al.

    Overproduction in song development: An evolutionary correlate with migration

    Animal Behaviour

    (1996)
  • D.A. Nelson et al.

    A comparative approach to vocal learning: Intraspecific variation in the learning process

    Animal Behaviour

    (1995)
  • D.A. Nelson et al.

    Does learning produce song conformity or novelty in white crowned sparrows?

    Animal Behaviour

    (2009)
  • D.A. Nelson et al.

    The capacity for song memorization varies in populations of the same species

    Animal Behaviour

    (1996)
  • J.C. Nordby et al.

    Late song learning in song sparrows

    Animal Behaviour

    (2001)
  • J.C. Nordby et al.

    Selective attrition and individual song repertoire development in song sparrows

    Animal Behaviour

    (2007)
  • J.C. Nordby et al.

    Social influences during song development in the song sparrow: A laboratory experiment simulating field conditions

    Animal Behaviour

    (2000)
  • Akçay, Ç., Campbell, S. E., & Beecher, M. D. (n.d.). Song learning in song sparrows: Cooperative or competitive?...
  • Ç. Akçay et al.

    Individual differences affect honest signalling in a songbird

    Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

    (2014)
  • Ç. Akçay et al.

    Who initiates extra-pair mating in song sparrows?

    Behavioral Ecolgy

    (2012)
  • Ç. Akçay et al.

    Song type matching is an honest early threat signal in a hierarchical animal communication system

    Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

    (2013)
  • M. Avery et al.

    Song dialects in bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)

    Condor

    (1977)
  • P. Backwell et al.

    Coalition among male fiddler crabs

    Nature

    (2004)
  • M.C. Baker

    Song dialects and genetic differences in white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

    Evolution

    (1975)
  • L.F. Baptista et al.

    Social interaction and vocal development in birds

  • M.D. Beebee

    Song sharing by yellow warblers differs between two modes of singing: Implications for song function

    Condor

    (2002)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text