Bird song: Biological themes and variations

COVER......Page 1
HALF-TITLE......Page 3
TITLE......Page 5
COPYRIGHT......Page 6
CONTENTS......Page 7
INTRODUCTION......Page 11
CHAPTER ONE THE STUDY OF BIRD SONG......Page 15
1.2 History......Page 16
1.3.1 Signals and communication......Page 17
1.3.2 Why sound?......Page 20
1.3.3 Songs, calls and terminology......Page 21
1.4.1 Observing......Page 24
1.4.2 Recording......Page 26
1.4.3 Analysing......Page 27
1.4.4 Experimenting......Page 29
CHAPTER TWO PRODUCTION AND PERCEPTION......Page 33
2.2 Sound production......Page 34
2.2.1 The syrinx......Page 35
2.2.2 Two voices......Page 37
2.2.3 Modulations in the vocal tract......Page 39
2.3 Hearing......Page 42
2.3.2 Hearing ranges......Page 43
2.3.3 Hearing and discrimination......Page 45
2.3.4 Gene expression in the brain......Page 48
2.4 Singing in the brain......Page 50
2.4.1 The motor pathway......Page 51
2.4.2 The learning pathway......Page 53
2.4.3 Neurogenesis in the brain......Page 54
2.4.4 Sexual dimorphism in the brain......Page 56
2.4.5 Sexual selection and female choice......Page 58
3.1 Introduction......Page 63
3.2 The basic features of song learning......Page 64
3.3 Variations......Page 69
3.3.1 Timing of memorisation......Page 70
3.3.2 Social influences......Page 74
memorisation......Page 75
production......Page 77
3.3.3 From whom do young birds learn?......Page 80
3.3.4 How accurately do they learn?......Page 82
3.3.5 What about females?......Page 84
3.4 Mimicry......Page 85
3.5 Why all this variety?......Page 90
3.6 The distribution of song learning......Page 91
3.7 Why learn?......Page 95
CHAPTER FOUR GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS......Page 99
4.2.1 Attenuation......Page 100
4.2.2 Degradation......Page 105
4.3.1 Singing position......Page 106
4.3.2 Comparisons between species......Page 109
4.3.3 Comparisons within a species......Page 111
4.4 Communication in a noisy environment......Page 115
4.5.1 Distance......Page 118
time of arrival di.erences......Page 121
localisation of bird calls......Page 122
4.6 Conclusion......Page 125
CHAPTER FIVE WHEN DO BIRDS SING?......Page 127
5.2 Song and the breeding cycle......Page 128
5.2.1 Song before and after pairing......Page 130
5.2.2 Song cycles in mockingbirds......Page 131
5.2.3 Song and sperm competition......Page 132
5.3 Seasonal song and hormones......Page 134
5.3.1 Hormone levels in wild birds......Page 135
5.3.2 Hormone levels in European robins......Page 136
5.4 Females that sing......Page 137
5.4.1 Female song in red-winged blackbirds......Page 138
5.4.2 Other examples of female song......Page 140
5.5 The dawn chorus......Page 142
5.5.1.Sound transmission at dawn......Page 143
5.5.2 Feeding conditions at dawn......Page 144
5.5.3 Territory and vacancies at dawn......Page 146
5.5.4 Females and fertility at dawn......Page 148
5.6 Avoiding competition......Page 149
5.6.1 Competition from other species......Page 150
5.6.2 Competition from other individuals......Page 151
CHAPTER SIX RECOGNITION AND TERRITORIAL DEFENCE......Page 153
6.2 Territorial defence......Page 154
6.2.1 Muting experiments......Page 155
6.2.2 Speaker replacement experiments......Page 157
6.2.3 Interactive playback experiments......Page 161
6.3 Species recognition......Page 163
6.3.1 Bremond ’s experiments......Page 164
6.3.2 The important features......Page 167
6.3.3 Recognising other species......Page 168
6.3.4 Kin recognition......Page 170
6.4 Individual recognition......Page 172
6.4.1 Parent–offspring recognition......Page 173
6.4.2 Mate recognition......Page 176
6.4.3 Neighbours and strangers......Page 177
6.4.4 Eavesdropping and communication networks......Page 180
CHAPTER SEVEN SEXUAL SELECTION AND FEMALE CHOICE......Page 185
7.2 Sexual selection......Page 186
7.3 Female attraction......Page 188
7.4 Female eavesdropping......Page 190
7.5 Female stimulation......Page 192
7.6 Song output......Page 195
7.7.1 The song sparrow......Page 199
7.7.3 The sedge warbler......Page 201
7.7.4 The great reed warbler......Page 204
7.7.5 The red-winged blackbird......Page 205
7.7.6 The starling......Page 206
7.7.7 The comparative approach......Page 207
7.8 Reliability and honesty......Page 210
7.8.1 Costs and performance......Page 211
7.8.2 Song and developmental stress......Page 213
CHAPTER EIGHT THEMES AND VARIATIONS......Page 217
8.2 Repertoire sizes......Page 218
8.3 The organisation of repertoires......Page 222
8.3.1 The chaffinch......Page 223
8.3.2 The American redstart......Page 225
8.3.3 The nightingale......Page 226
8.3.5 The sedge warbler......Page 227
8.4.1 Duets......Page 229
8.4.2 Choruses......Page 233
8.5 Matched countersinging......Page 235
8.6.1 Habituation......Page 240
8.6.2 Exhaustion......Page 243
8.7 Songs with different functions......Page 245
8.8.1 The functions of song......Page 248
8.8.2 Evolution and song complexity......Page 250
CHAPTER NINE VARIATION IN TIME AND SPACE......Page 255
9.2 Variation within a population......Page 256
9.3 Geographical variation......Page 259
9.4 Sharp dialect boundaries......Page 263
9.4.1 The white-crowned sparrow......Page 264
9.4.2 Other dialect species......Page 266
9.5 The significance of geographical variation......Page 268
9.5.1 Habitat matching......Page 269
9.5.2 Genetic adaptation......Page 272
9.5.3 Social adaptation......Page 274
9.5.4 Historical processes and geographical barriers......Page 275
9.5.5 Songs on isolated islands......Page 277
9.5.6 Conclusion......Page 278
9.6.1 Year to year changes......Page 279
9.6.2 Sampling occurring some years apart......Page 280
9.7 Evolutionary change......Page 284
9.8 Conclusion......Page 288
COMMON AND SCIENTIFIC NAMES......Page 289
REFERENCES......Page 295
Index......Page 343