Meeting Abstract
In order to extract meaning from a communication signal, it is important to understand both the context of the communication (e.g., intrasexual competition or courtship) as well as how an individual’s vocal units are organized and delivered. In this project, we aim to understand how Bachman’s sparrows structure the delivery of their large “primary” song type repertoires (>45 song types) and the potential role that song delivery patterns play in intraspecific vocal interactions. In a field study we presented male Bachman’s sparrows with simulated territorial intrusions and each subject received two song playback treatments: 1) songs played in the sequence in which the subject bird sang them during a natural bout of undisturbed broadcast singing (ABCDE), and 2) songs played in a jumbled order (e.g., CEADB). We compared responses to the two playback treatments and found no differences in song type matching, song rate, song type switching frequency, or aggressive behaviors. While there was a low incidence of song type matching during both treatments, subjects tended to song type match to the playback more frequently when songs were presented in the birds’ own sequence (the song sequence produced during undisturbed broadcast singing) compared to songs played in a jumbled sequence. In ongoing analyses, we are using Markov models to test for predictable song delivery patterns in individual Bachman’s sparrows during undisturbed singing, in response to simulated territorial intrusion, and during natural counter-singing interactions between neighbors. We will also test whether neighbor dyads, which tend to share song types in common, also share song sequences in common. Ultimately, we seek to understand the role that vocal unit sequences may play in agonistic communication.
