Birdsongs keep pace with city life: changes in song over time in an urban songbird affects communication
Animals in urban environments often must adjust their vocalizations to be heard over the din of anthropogenic ambient noise. Most studies of this process use current comparisons of environments that vary in ambient noise; here, we evaluate over time the effects of the urban environment on signal structure and salience. We show that white-crowned sparrow, […]
Great tits in urban noise benefit from high frequencies in song detection and discrimination
Field studies in urban environments have shown that birds sing with higher frequencies in response to noise, but so far there are no perceptual data showing benefits of high-frequency songs over lowfrequency songs under typical urban noise conditions. In this study we investigated the potential effects of specific frequency use in different environments on the […]
Canyon wrens alter their songs in response to territorial challenges
Many animals use low frequency and harsh sounds in aggressive contexts. Low frequencies are correlated with body size in some species, and thus can provide an indication of fighting ability. Because of this, low frequencies and harsh sounds may also indicate aggressive intent and motivation to attack. We tested for facultative adjustment of vocal behaviour […]
Early-life stress affects the behavioural and neural response of female song sparrows to conspecific song
In songbirds, both song production and song preferences may be influenced by early-life experience. Early-life stress impairs development of the song-control brain regions and permanently affects male song production. However, few studies have examined the effects of early-life stress on female song preferences or the brains of female songbirds. We exposed female song sparrows, Melospiza […]
Early-life stress affects song complexity, song learning and volume of the brain nucleus RA in adult male song sparrows
In songbirds, both song production and song preferences may be influenced by early-life experience. Early-life stress impairs development of the song-control brain regions and permanently affects male song production. However, few studies have examined the effects of early-life stress on female song preferences or the brains of female songbirds. We exposed female song sparrows, Melospiza […]
An experimental study of duet integration in the happy wren, Pheugopedius felix
Pairs of duetting birds can sing coordinated duets with such precision that they are often mistaken for a single individual, yet little is known about how this impressive temporal synchronization is achieved. We experimentally examined duet coordination in male happy wrens, held briefly in captivity, by playing song phrases from their partner at different distances […]
Urban noise undermines female sexual preferences for low-frequency songs in domestic canaries
Increasing levels of anthropogenic noise represent a challenge for animals living in urban areas and birds, especially, may suffer from noisy conditions as they use singing to attract mates. Most anthropogenic noise is low in frequency and singing at high frequencies under noisy urban conditions may avoid masking and thus be a good strategy for […]