Psychology

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Browsing Psychology by Subject "Adelaide's warbler"

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    Assessing the similarity of song-type transitions among birds: evidence for inter-species variation
    (Elsevier, 2018) Hedley, Richard W.; Logue, David M.; Benedict, Lauryn; Mennill, Daniel J.
    In many species of songbird, individuals sing multiple song types, some of which are shared with their neighbours. Individuals may also share syntactical rules that govern the transitions between different song types, but few studies have attempted to study this kind of sharing. Progress has been inhibited by a lack of statistical tools to compare song-type transitions among individuals. We present a straightforward method for comparing song transitions based on Markov transition matrices. The method calculates the number of mutually preferred song-type-to-different-song-type transitions found in the song sequences of two birds, then assesses whether that number is significantly greater than would be expected if the two birds ordered their songs independently of one another. We applied this method to song sequences from five songbird species. All pairwise comparisons among male Cassin's vireos, Vireo cassinii, showed significant similarity in song transitions, as did a minority of comparisons among Adelaide's warblers, Setophaga adelaidae, and one pair of marsh wrens, Cistothorus palustris. In contrast, dyads of rock wrens, Salpinctes obsoletus, and rufous-and-white wrens, Thryophilus rufalbus, did not share song-type transitions at levels exceeding chance. Interterritory distance was not significantly related to our measure of song transition similarity in any of our study species. These results provide evidence that interindividual similarity in song-type transitions is a trait that varies considerably among species. We discuss the potential drivers of similarity in song transitions, but note that assessing its evolutionary breadth will require a larger sample of species. The application of our method to additional species will provide a more comprehensive understanding of signal use and vocal interaction in songbirds.
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    Quantifying song categories in Adelaide's Warbler (Setophaga adelaidae)
    (Springer, 2019) Kaluthota, Chinthaka D.; Medina, Orlando J.; Logue, David M.
    Many migratory wood-warblers in the genus Setophaga divide their song repertoires into two categories. Category B songs are usually sung before dawn, with immediate variety and short latencies between songs, whereas category A songs are sung exclusively after dawn, with eventual variety and longer latencies between songs. Songs in different categories may also differ with respect to their acoustic structure. We used an unsupervised clustering algorithm to identify song categories in Adelaide’s Warbler (Setophaga adelaidae), a year-round territorial species. We identified two categories of song types, the characteristics of which are similar to song categories in other migratory wood-warblers. Clusters were not well separated, suggesting that song categories may not be discrete. Song structures in the two categories were similar, but category B songs were shorter and had fewer notes than category A songs. On average, dyads of males shared more category B songs than category A songs, and were more likely to use category B songs when song type matching other males. The most important song delivery variable for separating clusters was residual average run length (residual values control for covariation with time of day), followed by percent of songs delivered before dawn, residual latency, and percent of songs used as song-type matches. We recommend a scheme based on the first three variables to classify novel song types.
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    Vocal performance increases rapidly during the dawn chorus in Adelaide’s warbler (Setophaga adelaidae)
    (Oxford Academic, 2023) Vazquez-Cardona, Juleyska; Bonnell, Tyler R.; Mower, Peter C.; Medina, Orlando J.; Jiskoot, Hester; Logue, David M.
    Many songbirds sing intensely during the early morning, resulting in a phenomenon known as the dawn chorus. We tested the hypothesis that male Adelaide’s warblers (Setophaga adelaidae) warm up their voices during the dawn chorus. If warming up the voice is one of the functions of the dawn chorus, we predicted that vocal performance would increase more rapidly during the dawn chorus compared to the rest of the morning and that high song rates during the dawn chorus period contribute to the increase in vocal performance. The performance metrics recovery time, voiced frequency modulation, and unvoiced frequency modulation were low when birds first began singing, increased rapidly during the dawn chorus, and then leveled off or gradually diminished after dawn. These changes are attributable to increasing performance within song types. Reduction in the duration of the silent gap between notes is the primary driver of improved performance during the dawn chorus. Simulations indicated that singing at a high rate during the dawn chorus period increases performance in two of the three performance measures (recovery time and unvoiced frequency modulation) relative to singing at a low rate during this period. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that vocal warm-up is one benefit of participation in the dawn chorus.