01140nas a2200193 4500008004100000245007400041210006900115520049600184653002400680653002800704653001900732653001400751653001800765100002800783700002500811700002500836700001600861856006900877 2019 eng d00aSignificant Instances in Motor Gestures of Different Songbird Species0 aSignificant Instances in Motor Gestures of Different Songbird Sp3 a

The nervous system representation of a motor program is an open problem for most behaviors. In birdsong production, it has been proposed that some special temporal instances, linked to significant aspects of the motor gestures used to generate the song, are preferentially represented in the cortex. In this work, we compute these temporal instances for two species, and report which of them is better suited to test the proposed coding (as well as alternative models) against data.

10abirdsong production10acortical representation10amotor gestures10asongbirds10asparse coding1 aOrtiz, Javier, N. Lassa1 aHerbert, Cecilia, T.1 aMindlin, Gabriel, B.1 aAmador, Ana uhttps://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphy.2019.00142/full02516nas a2200217 4500008004100000245010300041210006900144260001600213490000700229520180700236653002502043653002402068653001302092653001402105653002202119653001802141653001702159100002502176700002402201856007302225 2019 eng d00aHabitat-related differences in song structure and complexity in a songbird with a large repertoire0 aHabitatrelated differences in song structure and complexity in a cJan-12-20190 v193 a

Background

Urbanisation has been shown to influence many aspects of animal vocal communication. Much attention has been paid to anthropogenic noise, which is often described as one of the most challenging disturbances for urban dwellers. While a large body of literature describes associations between vocal behavior of avian populations and background noise level, most of these studies were conducted on species with relatively simple songs and small repertoire sizes. This study focuses on the song thrush, Turdus philomelos, a common Eurasian songbird with a complex singing style and large syllable repertoire. Our objective was to determine whether frequency, repertoire and temporal organisation of song parameters vary between birds inhabiting urban and adjacent forest habitats in which ambient noise levels differ.

Results

Songs of urban males were found to be more complex than in conspecifics from natural forest populations. Urban dwellers possessed greater syllable repertoires and repeated syllable sequences more often. In addition, they used a smaller proportion of whistles and a higher proportion of twitter syllables when singing compared to the nonurban males. Moreover, we found significant differences in the minimum and peak frequency of the whistle syllable between studied populations.

Conclusions

These findings may be an example of adaptation of acoustic communication in noisy urban environments, but we also discuss other possible explanations. We emphasize the need for further investigation into the relationships between birdsong and habitat characteristics, male quality, population density and ambient noise level in populations occupying urban and nonurban habitats.

10aanimal communication10aanthropogenic noise10abirdsong10asongbirds10aTurdus philomelos10aUrban ecology10aurbanisation1 aDeoniziak, Krzysztof1 aOsiejuk, Tomasz, S. uhttps://bmcecol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12898-019-0255-702711nas a2200157 4500008004100000245011900041210006900160260001600229520215000245653002402395653002002419653001402439100002802453700002902481856004302510 2018 eng d00aIdentifying ecological drivers of interspecific variation in song complexity in songbirds (Passeriformes, Passeri)0 aIdentifying ecological drivers of interspecific variation in son cJan-12-20183 a

A diversity of selective pressures and stochastic processes have likely created substantial variation in song structure, creating difficulties in quantifying the influence of specific ecological factors. This problem is further compounded by differences in study taxa and methods of data analysis between studies. Large comparative studies offer the potential to mitigate some of these methodological difficulties by maximizing the power of statistical analyses and minimizing the probability of misidentifying the magnitude and direction of relationships between independent and dependent variables. In this study, we quantified song complexity for 367 species of globally distributed songbirds (Passeriformes, Passeri). We quantified eight individual acoustic variables that have previously been linked to audio complexity which we analyzed independently, and after applying multivariate statistics to the variables. We used Bayesian linear mixed effect models to test multiple hypotheses regarding song complexity: that it should be greater in open habitats, in migratory species, for sexually monomorphic species, at higher latitudes and altitudes, and that it should co‐vary with clutch size characteristics. Our results challenge perceptions of the effect of habitat structure on song complexity; for instance, counter to expectation, we found songs in closed environments to have reduced syllable diversity. Additionally, our results suggest song complexity may not be ubiquitously a means of communicating male quality, with no significant difference between recordings from monomorphic and dimorphic species. By estimating song complexity in multiple ways, and quantifying these over large taxonomic and spatial scales, we are able to gain a more nuanced understanding of how song complexity is potentially affected by a range of biotic and abiotic factors. Our results also suggest that caution is required when making generalized statements about the relative influence of different factors on song complexity; more densely‐sampled, group‐specific studies are necessary complements to this taxonomically broad analysis.

10amixed effect models10asong complexity10asongbirds1 aCrouch, Nicholas, M. A.1 aMason-Gamer, Roberta, J. uhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jav.0202002845nas a2200265 4500008004100000022001300041245011400054210006900168260001600237300001400253490000800267520203200275653002702307653002902334653001402363653001902377653001402396653001602410653001802426653001602444100002202460700001502482700001602497856006602513 2017 eng d a0003347200aImpact of group size and social composition on group vocal activity and acoustic network in a social songbird0 aImpact of group size and social composition on group vocal activ cJan-05-2017 a163 - 1780 v1273 a

In social species individuals living in the same group may synchronize activities such as movements, foraging or antipredator vigilance. Synchronization of activities can also be observed between partners especially during breeding and can be crucial for breeding success. Vocalizations are behaviours that can be coordinated between individuals, but simultaneous vocalizations in groups have mostly been considered as noise that does not bear any information. Indeed, little is known about the structure and function of vocal communications involving a network of individuals. How individual vocal activity forms part of the communal sound and how the group influences individual vocal activity are questions that remain to be studied. Zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, are social, monogamous songbirds that form lifelong pair bonds. In the wild, they are typically found in small groups, with the pair as the primary social unit, and they gather in ‘social’ trees where both females and males produce vocalizations. Here we investigated in the laboratory the influence of group size and composition on general vocal activity and synchrony, as well as the influence of pair bond and spatial location on the finer characteristics of dyads' vocal interactions. We used a set-up that locked the birds at fixed spatial positions of our choosing to control the proximity network and allowed us to match most of the vocalizations with specific individuals. We used an in-house software suite that automatically detects vocalizations from hours of passive recording. We found that zebra finch groups synchronized their general vocal activity with waves of collective vocalizations, which depended on both the size and the composition of the group. The acoustic network was shaped by pair bonds at different timescales. Birds preferentially vocalized close in time to (synchrony) or directly after (turn taking) their partner when it was present and the nearest neighbour when the partner was not available.

10aacoustic communication10agroup collective calling10apair bond10asocial network10asongbirds10aturn taking10avocalizations10aZebra Finch1 aFernandez, M.S.A.1 aVignal, C.1 aSoula, H.A. uhttp://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S000334721730085402468nas a2200277 4500008004100000022001300041245010200054210006900156260001600225300001400241490000800255520160200263653001901865653002401884653003401908653002101942653003401963653002001997653001402017653000802031100002102039700002202060700002602082700001602108856006602124 2017 eng d a0003347200aIt's complicated: the association between songbird extrapair paternity and within-song complexity0 aIts complicated the association between songbird extrapair pater cJan-08-2017 a187 - 1970 v1303 a

Many songbird species are socially monogamous while exhibiting varying extrapair paternity frequencies. Song complexity, often subject to sexual selection, similarly varies across songbird taxa. Some species form highly complex songs whereas others produce simple songs. The basis of this variability, however, is unresolved. Because selection pressures generally favour the evolution of sexually selected characteristics reflecting male quality, such as song complexity, it should be subject to extrapair mate selection. We therefore predicted a positive association between extrapair paternity frequency and songbird song complexity. In addition, we predicted that broadcast (long-range) rather than interactive songs (short-range) would be more likely to contain sexually selected characteristics, such as higher complexity, especially in species with high extrapair paternity frequencies. This was tested using tui, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, a species with high extrapair paternity frequency. First, analyses on 78 songbird species indicated a significant positive association between extrapair paternity frequency and within-song complexity (the level of complexity within a species-specific song) but not between-song complexity (size of species-specific song or syllable repertoire), while no phylogenetic trait conservation was found. Additionally, our results suggested tui broadcast songs had higher song complexity than interactive songs. The findings in this study indicate extrapair mate selection may play a role in the evolution of within-song complexity in songbirds.

10abroadcast song10aextrapair paternity10aextrapair paternity frequency10ainteractive song10aProsthemadera novaeseelandiae10asong complexity10asongbirds10atui1 aHill, Samuel, D.1 aAmiot, Christophe1 aAnderson, Michael, G.1 aJi, Weihong uhttp://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347217302014