Zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) songs include syllables of a fundamental frequency and harmonics. Individual harmonics in 1 syllable can be more or less emphasized. The functional role of this variability is unknown. These experiments provide evidence of how the phenomenon is perceived. We trained 12 male and female zebra finches on a go-no-go operant procedure to discriminate between 2 song ...

Recent evidence suggests that sexual dimorphisms in the zebra finch song system and behavior arise due to factors intrinsic to the brain, rather than being solely organized by circulating steroid hormones. The present study examined expression of 10 sex chromosome genes in the song system of 25-day-old zebra finches in an attempt to further elucidate these factors. Increased expression in males...

To understand the mechanisms of song learning by songbirds it is necessary to have in hand tools for extracting, describing, and quantifying features of the developing vocalizations. The extremely large number of vocalizations produced by juvenile zebra finches and the variability in these vocalizations during the sensorimotor learning period preclude manual scoring methods. Here we describe an...