ANNUAL CHANGES OF LEARNED BEHAVIOUR—VARIATION OF SONG PATTERN IN FREE-LIVING CHAFFINCHES,FRINGILLA COELEBS,DURING THE BREEDING SEASON

ABSTRACT

Seasonal changes of parameters of full song were studied in a free-living population of chaffinches Fringilla coelebs during one entire reproductive period. Approximately 7000 strophes sung by 14 male chaffinches were recorded and analysed by sonography and a particular oscillographic method. While the general pattern of song strophes, i.e. characteristics of elements, number and arrangement of phrases, and final flourish, remained constant throughout the reproductive period, full song varied with respect to the repetition rate of strophes, number of strophe types used, intensity of singing, duration of strophes, and percentage of incomplete strophes sung. These changes are discussed as results of learning processes, social interactions in the population, and endogenous mechanisms activating memorized information.     

Effects of the winter beechmast crop on bird occurrence in British gardens

Capsule Woodland birds were significantly less likely to occur in gardens in years of high beechmast crop.

Aim To test the hypothesis that woodland species that feed on beechmast will have significantly lower occurrence rates at garden feeders in mast years.

Methods Weekly winter occurrence rates at garden feeders between 1970/71 and 1999/2000 for 40 species were analysed in relation to annual beechmast abundance, classified into low, medium and high years. A repeated-measures logistic regression model was used to assess whether beechmast abundance explained further significant variation additional to underlying seasonal and annual trends.

Results Seven species that commonly feed on beechmast showed significantly lower occurrence in gardens in years of highest beechmast abundance: Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major, Woodpigeon Columba palumbus, Great Tit Parus major, Coal Tit Periparus ater, Nuthatch Sitta europaea, Jay Garrulus glandarius and Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs. Blackbird Turdus merula and Siskin Carduelis spinus, which showed similar significant patterns, are likely to take beechmast as elements of their diet. Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba was the only insectivorous species to show significant effects, but occurrence was lowest in years of intermediate beechmast abundance. For the latter species, this may have been due to confounding effects of temperature, but there were no such confounding effects of either temperature, or the number of bird feeders provided in gardens, for the other nine species.

Conclusion Use of artificial food sources by birds in gardens is influenced by resources in the surrounding countryside, suggesting that food provided in gardens may play a significant part in the population dynamics of these species, that population monitoring without consideration of the garden habitat may be deficient, and that volunteer-based garden bird recording may provide data that can be used as an indicator of changes in the wider countryside.     

At the interface of the auditory and vocal motor systems: NIf and its role in vocal processing,production and learning

Communication between auditory and vocal motor nuclei is essential for vocal learning. In songbirds, the nucleus interfacialis of the nidopallium (NIf) is part of a sensorimotor loop, along with auditory nucleus avalanche (Av) and song system nucleus HVC, that links the auditory and song systems. Most of the auditory information comes through this sensorimotor loop, with the projection from NIf to HVC representing the largest single source of auditory information to the song system. In addition to providing the majority of HVC’s auditory input, NIf is also the primary driver of spontaneous activity and premotor-like bursting during sleep in HVC. Like HVC and RA, two nuclei critical for song learning and production, NIf exhibits behavioral-state dependent auditory responses and strong motor bursts that precede song output. NIf also exhibits extended periods of fast gamma oscillations following vocal production. Based on the converging evidence from studies of physiology and functional connectivity it would be reasonable to expect NIf to play an important role in the learning, maintenance, and production of song. Surprisingly, however, lesions of NIf in adult zebra finches have no effect on song production or maintenance. Only the plastic song produced by juvenile zebra finches during the sensorimotor phase of song learning is affected by NIf lesions. In this review, we carefully examine what is known about NIf at the anatomical, physiological, and behavioral levels. We reexamine conclusions drawn from previous studies in the light of our current understanding of the song system, and establish what can be said with certainty about NIf’s involvement in song learning, maintenance, and production. Finally, we review recent theories of song learning integrating possible roles for NIf within these frameworks and suggest possible parallels between NIf and sensorimotor areas that form part of the neural circuitry for speech processing in humans.     

同一生境中强脚树莺鸣声的个体差异及多样性

在杭州市郊小和山森林公园内约85hm2范围内,用SHARP-CE-15l型录音机(频响30—l4000Hz)和强指向麦克风(频响40—14000Hz),对夏季繁殖期连续分布的同一生境中不同个体的强脚树莺(Cettiafor-tipes)的鸣声进行了记录,并通过计算机声谱分析系统从句型结构、音图结构、时域和频域特征及短时能量等方面进行了分析和比较,发现在同一生境一个小范围内同一种鸟就有6种不同类型的鸣声。这些鸣声的音调各不相同,鸣声的结构差异很大,大多声学参数之间也存在显著或极显著差异。形成这种鸣声多样性的原因可能是繁殖竞争在声行为上的体现。     

Vocal communication in adult greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

Whereas echolocation in horseshoe bats is well studied, virtually nothing is known about characteristics and function of their communication calls. Therefore, the communication calls produced by a group of captive adult greater horseshoe bats were recorded during various social interactions in a free-flight facility. Analysis revealed that this species exhibited an amazingly rich repertoire of vocalizations varying in numerous spectro-temporal aspects. Calls were classified into 17 syllable types (ten simple syllables and seven composites). Syllables were combined into six types of simple phrases and four combination phrases. The majority of syllables had durations of more than 100 ms with multiple harmonics and fundamental frequencies usually above 20 kHz, although some of them were also audible to humans. Preliminary behavioral observations indicated that many calls were emitted during direct interaction with and in response to social calls from conspecifics without requiring physical contact. Some echolocation-like vocalizations also appeared to clearly serve a communication role. These results not only shed light upon a so far widely neglected aspect of horseshoe bat vocalizations, but also provide the basis for future studies on the neural control of the production of communicative vocalizations in contrast to the production of echolocation pulse sequences.     

The song structure and seasonal patterns of vocal behavior of male and female bellbirds (Anthornis melanura)

The bellbird (Anthornis melanura) is a honeyeater endemic to New Zealand, which uses song to defend breeding territories and/or food resources year round. Both sexes sing and the song structure and singing behavior have not yet been quantified. The number of song types, spectral structure, repertoire size, and singing behavior of male and female bellbirds was investigated for a large island population. Song types differed between the sexes with males singing a number of structurally distinct song types and females producing song types that overlapped in structure. Singing behavior also differed between the sexes; males often sung long series of songs while females sung each song at relatively long and variable intervals. Singing by both sexes occurred year round but the frequency of male and female singing bouts showed contrasting seasonal patterns. The frequency of female singing bouts increased as the breeding season progressed, whereas male singing bouts decreased. In contrast to almost all studied passerines, female bellbirds exhibited significant singing behavior and sung songs of complex structure and variety that parallel male song. These results provide a quantitative foundation for further research of song in bellbirds and in particular the function of female vocal behavior.     

芦鹀种群中的文化、遗传和形态进化的同时比较

我们比较了芦 (Emberizaschoeniclus)两个亚种组 ,即北部的薄喙亚种组和南部的厚喙亚种组的 10个种群中的文化、遗传和形态变异。使用了四个不同的变异标记物 ,其中两个用来测量文化分化 ,一个用来测量遗传分化 ,即微卫星等位基因的频次 ,一个用来测量种群的形态分化 ,即喙的高度。将遗传分化作为进化时间的尺度 ,我们计算了亚种组间和组内分化指标与所估计的进化率之间的相关性 ,发现只有文化定量指标和遗传分化与种群的形态分化相关 ,而两个文化分化指标之间没有关系 ,文化分化与遗传分化之间也没有关系。使用文化 -定量分化指标 ,发现亚种组间的文化进化率高于亚种内的文化进化率 ,提示鸣唱在防止杂交方面只有微弱的、也许是次要的作用。鸣唱定量特征的变异与微卫星频次相同 ,实际上在自然界中更可能是遗传决定的 ,这可以解释由于分析两个文化变异指标所得出的结果的不一致性。鸣唱的声学特性可能由于栖息地的差异或形态上的限制而发生了演变 ,而文化传播单位 (Meme)的特性可能由于学习鸣唱和文化传播而受到了影响     

环境噪声对临安和阜阳两地白头鹎鸣声频率的影响

为了解环境噪声对白头鹎(Pycnonotus sinensi)鸣声频率的影响,在浙江临安和安徽阜阳两地分别对白头鹎在高低噪声水平环境中的鸣声做了研究。把用数码录音机记录到的鸣声输入计算机,利用计算机声谱分析系统进行分析,再对每一鸣声的每个音节的主频进行Mann—Whitney U检验。结果显示：高噪声水平区和低噪声水平区相比,在两地白头鹎每一鸣声的各音节主频中,最低和最高主频以及第I、Ⅱ音节的主频都有显著提高;在阜阳第Ⅲ音节的主频也有显著提高。这表明白头鹎可以通过提高声音频率来避免环境噪声对鸣声的影响,从而保证噪声环境中声信息的有效传递;而噪声对各音节的不同影响也表明,同一鸣句的各音节,对于噪声通讯中的信息识别,具有不同的地位。     

青藏高原白腰雪雀鸣声结构的复杂性

本文以SAS Lab鸟类声谱分析软件对采自青藏高原黑马河、玛多与花石峡、沱沱河的白腰雪雀不同地方种群的鸣叫与鸣唱的复杂性进行了分析 ,发现白腰雪雀的鸣叫相对变化率随着采样量的增加由 0 5 2 2迅速降低到 0 1 2 7和 0 1 1 9,表明其鸣叫声组成中音节类型较少。同时发现其声谱图结构比较简单 ,表现出高度的音节重复并多有谐波的现象。鸣唱结构相对复杂 ,不同鸣唱音节数随鸣唱曲目的增加 ,开始有明显的增加 ,当鸣唱曲目增加到一定值时 ,不同音节数的增加趋于平缓 ,几乎保持稳定 ;野外未发现任何相同的鸣唱型 ,但在不同鸣唱型之间具有不同程度的音节共享现象。依据雷富民等 (2 0 0 3)对鸟类鸣唱多样性和复杂性的评述 ,白腰雪雀鸣唱的结构模式符合“多音节序列不稳定变化型” ,其鸣唱曲目中音节的转换形式为“序列鸣唱”。然而 ,鸣唱模式中音节类型的有限性和鸣唱型的高度多样化表明 :白腰雪雀鸣唱的复杂性不仅体现在鸣唱型内较丰富的音节组成 ,而且更重要的还在于不同鸣唱型间具有多变的音节序列组合形式     

Complex modulation of singing behavior by testosterone in an open-ended learner, the European Starling

In many temperate zone songbird species males only produce song during the breeding season, when plasma testosterone (T) levels are high. Males of some species sing throughout the year, even when T levels are low, indicating a dissociation between high T levels and song rate. Given that few studies have taken advantage of these species, we compare here song traits expressed under high versus low T concentrations and we study the role of testosterone in adult song learning in the European Starling, an open-ended learner in which repertoire size dramatically increases with age. We performed a detailed comparison of song complexity and song rate between fall and spring in 6-year-old intact male European starlings. In parallel, we investigated whether potential seasonal changes were regulated by the gonadally induced increase in plasma T, by comparing seasonal changes in intact and castrated males of the same age (castrated as juveniles during their first fall) and by subsequently experimentally elevating T in half of the castrated males. While song rate and stereotypy did not differ between intacts and castrates or between fall and spring, both groups increased their average song bout length from fall to spring, but only intact males increased their repertoire size, indicating that effects of seasonal T changes differ between song traits. Intact males overall displayed a larger song repertoire and a longer bout length than the castrates, and implantation with T caused a turnover in repertoire composition in castrates. However, as the castrates had never experienced high T levels and yet displayed a markedly higher repertoire size than that of typical yearling males, this suggests that the progressive increase of song repertoire with age in male starlings is not dependent on gonadal T, although it may be T-enhanced.