Strategies that facilitate or counter eavesdropping on vocal interactions in songbirds

Strategies that facilitate or counter eavesdropping on vocal interactions in songbirds.

Most territorial songbirds live in communication networks where eavesdropping on vocal interactions may constitute an important option for gathering information regarding the relative dominance, condition and quality of individuals being eavesdropped upon. The relatively low costs and risks of eavesdropping, together with the obvious advantages of gaining such comparative information about othe...

Female eavesdropping on male song contests in songbirds.

Male song reflects the quality of the singer in many animals and plays a role in female choice of social and copulation partners. Eavesdropping on male-male vocal interactions is a means by which females can compare different males’ singing behavior directly and make immediate comparisons between potential partners on the basis of their relative vocal performance (1, 2). Using an interactive pl...

Auditory-vocal mirroring in songbirds.

Mirror neurons are theorized to serve as a neural substrate for spoken language in humans, but the existence and functions of auditory-vocal mirror neurons in the human brain remain largely matters of speculation. Songbirds resemble humans in their capacity for vocal learning and depend on their learned songs to facilitate courtship and individual recognition. Recent neurophysiological studies ...

Bioanalytical chemistry: Eavesdropping on interactions.

Vocal Performance and Sensorimotor Learning in Songbirds

Since the pioneering studies of William Thorpe and Peter Marler, songbirds and their songs have served continuously as an inspirational muse to behavioral biologists (Catchpole and Slater, 2008; Marler and Slabbekoorn, 2004; Marler, 1957; Thorpe, 1958a). This is due not only to songbirds’ improbably rich diversity in song form and function, but also to the fascinating intricacy and complexity o...