TY - JOUR
T1 - Nocturnal songs in a diurnal passerine
T2 - attracting mates or repelling intruders?
AU - Celis-Murillo, Antonio
AU - Benson, Thomas J.
AU - Sosa-López, J. Roberto
AU - Ward, Michael P.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Jeff Brawn and Andy Suarez for their comments on previous drafts of the manuscript. We thank Ben Neece for helping in the analyses of songs. We also thank our field assistants for their help collecting these data. We are grateful to the Vermilion County Conservation District for permission to conduct research at Kennekuk Cove County Park. The National Science Foundation ( DDIG-14070801 ), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , the Animal Behavior Society Student Research Grant , the American Ornithologists' Union Research Award , the Illinois Ornithological Society and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources ( W-154-R-6 ) provided funding for this study. Funding for this study was also provided by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) through a chair fellowship at CIIDIR (researcher 1640; project 1781) to J.R.S.L. We declare no conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
PY - 2016/8/1
Y1 - 2016/8/1
N2 - We addressed the role of nocturnal singing in the diurnal field sparrow, Spizella pusilla. We were particularly interested in whether nocturnal song is used to repel intruders (intrasexual function) and/or to attract females seeking extrapair copulations (intersexual function). First, we used autonomous acoustic recording units (ARUs) and an automated detection and classification system to examine the associations of singing behaviour of mated field sparrows with social factors (fertility stage, presence of neighbour song and presence of intruder song). Second, using an automated radiotelemetry system (ARTS), autonomous acoustic recording units (ARUs) and automated playback systems, we conducted a nocturnal playback experiment to explore how mated male and female field sparrows respond to nocturnal songs at night and across prefertile, fertile and postfertile stages. We found that neighbours and intruder males tended to sing complex songs on the same nights when focal males sang. While not all focal males sang at night, all male birds (resident males, neighbours and intruders) that sang tended to sing according to the fertility periods of the resident male's female. Our playback experiment demonstrated that, although field sparrows usually slept and were inactive at night, they moved in response to nocturnal field sparrow songs more than to control stimuli (other species vocalizations). Interestingly, we found that males did not respond by singing or countersinging to field sparrow nocturnal songs (simulated intrusions). We also demonstrated that male activity responses were similar during the prefertile and postfertile stages, while females responded more during the prefertile and fertile stages than during the postfertile stage. Consequently, the nocturnal song in the field sparrow appears to play a role in extrapair mate attraction (intersexual function) more than in repelling intruders (intrasexual function). While nocturnal singing is an infrequent behaviour of most diurnal birds, it may be important in the mating system of these birds.
AB - We addressed the role of nocturnal singing in the diurnal field sparrow, Spizella pusilla. We were particularly interested in whether nocturnal song is used to repel intruders (intrasexual function) and/or to attract females seeking extrapair copulations (intersexual function). First, we used autonomous acoustic recording units (ARUs) and an automated detection and classification system to examine the associations of singing behaviour of mated field sparrows with social factors (fertility stage, presence of neighbour song and presence of intruder song). Second, using an automated radiotelemetry system (ARTS), autonomous acoustic recording units (ARUs) and automated playback systems, we conducted a nocturnal playback experiment to explore how mated male and female field sparrows respond to nocturnal songs at night and across prefertile, fertile and postfertile stages. We found that neighbours and intruder males tended to sing complex songs on the same nights when focal males sang. While not all focal males sang at night, all male birds (resident males, neighbours and intruders) that sang tended to sing according to the fertility periods of the resident male's female. Our playback experiment demonstrated that, although field sparrows usually slept and were inactive at night, they moved in response to nocturnal field sparrow songs more than to control stimuli (other species vocalizations). Interestingly, we found that males did not respond by singing or countersinging to field sparrow nocturnal songs (simulated intrusions). We also demonstrated that male activity responses were similar during the prefertile and postfertile stages, while females responded more during the prefertile and fertile stages than during the postfertile stage. Consequently, the nocturnal song in the field sparrow appears to play a role in extrapair mate attraction (intersexual function) more than in repelling intruders (intrasexual function). While nocturnal singing is an infrequent behaviour of most diurnal birds, it may be important in the mating system of these birds.
KW - acoustic recording system
KW - automated radiotelemetry system
KW - birdsong
KW - extrapair mating
KW - field sparrow
KW - individual acoustic identification
KW - mate attraction
KW - nocturnal behaviour
KW - nocturnal song
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U2 - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.04.023
DO - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.04.023
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84977117694
SN - 0003-3472
VL - 118
SP - 105
EP - 114
JO - Animal Behaviour
JF - Animal Behaviour
ER -