AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

Is Bird Song a Reliable Signal of Aggressive Intent? A Reply

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:2008
Authors:Searcy, WA, Anderson, RC, Nowicki, S
Journal:Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Volume:62
Issue:7
Date Published:2008
ISBN Number:03405443
Keywords:Columba, Columba palumbus, Columbidae, Emberizidae, Melospiza, Melospiza melodia
Abstract:We advocate assessing the reliability of signals of aggressive intent by eliciting aggressive signaling from a subject, giving the subject an opportunity to attack a model, and testing whether the subject's displays predict a subsequent attack. Using this design, we found that most singing behaviors are poor predictors of attack in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Laidre and Vehrencamp (Behav Ecol Sociobiol, DOI 10.1007/s00265-007-0539-3, 2008) suggested altering our experimental design to make the model more realistic; it remains to be seen whether such design changes would change the association between display and attack. Laidre and Vehrencamp (Behav Ecol Sociobiol, DOI 10.1007/s00265-007-0539-3, 2008) also suggested that the reliability of soft song, the one display that predicts attack in song sparrows, can be explained by a vulnerability cost. We question the rationale for a vulnerability cost for this display and suggest instead that soft song has a competing functions cost, in that, by using soft song to counter an intruder, a male sacrifices other possible functions of vocal signaling.
URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/40295145
Short Title:Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith