Watch Your Tone: Social Conditions Modulate Singing Strategies

• Published in: Ethology Vol. 121; no. 11; pp. 1104 - 1115
• Main Authors: Ronald, Kelly L, Skillman, Tasha, Lin, Andy, Li, Qingling, Fernandez‐Juricic, Esteban, Lucas, Jeffrey R, Koenig, W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hamburg P. Parey 01.11.2015; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: aggression; Animal behavior; Animal communication; bird song; Birds; courtship; females; flocks; Males; Molothrus ater; Motivational Structural Rules; songbirds; within-song variation

Bird song is typically depicted as a male singing a long‐distance signal to potentially unknown receivers to (1) deter males and (2) attract females. Nevertheless, many songbirds sing from close distances to a known receiver; males of these species may be under more intense selective pressure to mod...