AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

Female dunnocks use vocalizations to compete for males

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:1997
Authors:LANGMORE, NE, Davies, NB
Journal:Animal Behaviour
Volume:53
Issue:5
Date Published:1997
ISBN Number:0003-3472
Keywords:Prunella, Prunella modularis, Prunellidae
Abstract:In songbirds, males are usually the more competitive sex and they use vocalizations to attract females and to compete with rival males. When levels of female-female competition were experimentally increased in a population of dunnocks,Prunella modularis, females were predicted to increase their vocalization rates and to use vocalizations in comparable ways to competing males. Females produced tseep calls in territorial conflicts with rival females, and trill calls during the pre-breeding and fertile periods when they were left alone by their mate. Males were more likely to approach trills than tseeps, and females were more likely to trill than tseep in response to the song of their mate. Removal experiments to increase polygyny showed that females produced both types of call more when they were competing for male attention. Three out of 13 polygynous, fertile females also produced complex songs when their mate left to join another female. Songs were produced in the same context as the songs of female alpine accentors,P. collaris, a congener which breeds in large, polygynandrous groups where female competition for mates is intense, and females attract males with song. The possible functions of the mate-attracting trills and songs of females are discussed; in dunnocks they may (1) attract mates away from other females to reduce the likelihood of polygyny, (2) ensure that the male copulates sufficiently to cross a helping threshold, and (3) enable the female to assess future levels of parental care from her mate.
URL:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347296903061
Short Title:Animal Behaviour
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith