learning program that ensures prompt and versatile vocal imitation

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 104; no. 51; pp. 20398 - 20403
• Main Authors: Liu, Wan-chun, Nottebohm, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 18.12.2007; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Adult animals; Animal cognition; Animal communication; Animals; Biological Sciences; Bird migration; Bird songs; Birds; Breeding seasons; Discrimination Learning; Entropy; Male; Male animals; Ontogeny; Solmization; Sparrows; Sparrows - physiology; Spizella passerina; Syllables; Tutoring; Vocalization, Animal - physiology
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0710067104

Here we show how a migratory songbird, the chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina), achieves prompt and precise vocal imitation. Juvenile chipping sparrow males develop five to seven potential precursor songs; the normal development of these songs requires intact hearing but not imitation from external models. The potential precursor songs conform with general species-typical song parameters but differ from the song of wild, adult territorial males. As chipping sparrow males return from migration to start their first breeding season, they settle close to an older adult. The young male then stops producing all but one of its precursor songs, retaining the one that most resembles that of its neighbor. This single song then becomes more variable and, in a matter of days, is altered to closely match the neighbor's song. This elegant solution ensures species specificity and promptness of imitation.