Song bout length is indicative of spatial learning in European starlings

Behavioral Ecology

Volumn 23, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 101-111

  Farrell, Tara M ^a   Weaver, Katelyn ^a   An, Yong Seok ^a   MacDougall Shackleton, Scott A ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO   (Canada)

Author keywords

bird song; developmental stress; neophobia; social learning; spatial memory

Indexed keywords

BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT; BRAIN; COGNITION; DIET; ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS; FEMALE BEHAVIOR; FOOD AVAILABILITY; HONEST SIGNALING; JUVENILE; LEARNING; MATE RECOGNITION; MEMORY; NESTLING; NUTRIENT LIMITATION; PHENOTYPE; SONGBIRD;

AVES; MAMMALIA; PASSERI; STURNIDAE; STURNUS VULGARIS;

EID: 84555204638     PISSN: 10452249     EISSN: 14657279     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arr162     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. Abraham A, Gruss M. 2010. Stress inoculation facilitates active avoidance learning of the semi-precocial rodent Octodon degus. Brain Behav Res. 213:293-303.
2. An YS, Kriengwatana B, Newman AE, MacDougall-Shackleton EA, MacDougall-Shackleton SA. 2011. Social rank, neophobia and observational- learning in black-capped chickadees. Behaviour. 148:55-69.
3. Blumstein DT, Daniel JC, Evans CS. 2010. JWatcher 1.0 [cited 2010 July 3]. Available from: http://www.jwatcher.ucla.edu.
4. Boogert NJ, Anderson RC, Peters S, Searcy WA, Nowicki S. 2011. Song repertoire size in male song sparrows correlates with detour reaching, but not with other cognitive measures. Anim Behav. 89:1209-1216.
5. Boogert NJ, Giraldeau L, Lefebvre L. 2008. Song complexity correlates with learning ability in zebra finch males. Anim Behav. 76:1735-1741.
6. Boogert NJ, Reader SM, Hoppitt W, Laland KN. 2008. The origin and spread of innovations in starlings. Anim Behav. 75:1509-1518.
7. Boogert NJ, Reader SM, Laland KN. 2006. The relation between social rank, neophobia and individual learning in starlings. Anim Behav. 72:1229-1239.
8. Buchanan KL, Catchpole CK. 2000. Song as an indicator of male parental effort in the sedge warbler. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 267:231-326.
9. Buchanan KL, Leitner S, Spencer KA, Goldsmith AR, Catchpole CK. 2004. Developmental stress selectively affects brain nuclei HVC in the zebra finch. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 271:2381-2386.
10. Buchanan KL, Spencer KA, Goldsmith AR, Catchpole CK. 2003. Song as an honest signal of past developmental stress in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 270:1149-1156.
11. Campbell FM, Heyes CM, Goldsmith AR. 1999. Stimulus learning and response learning by observation in the European starling, in a two-object/two-action test. Anim Behav. 58:151-158.
12. Caraco T, Barkan C, Beacham JL, Brisbin L, Lima S, Mohan A, Newman JA, Webb W, Withiam ML. 1989. Dominance and social foraging: a laboratory study. Anim Behav. 38:41-58.
13. Casto JM, Ball GF. 1994. Developmental changes in a2-androgenic receptor density, cell density and the volume of nucleus robustus achistriatalis in European starlings. Abstr Soc Neurosci. 20:63.
14. Catchpole CK. 1996. Song and female mate choice: good genes and big brains? Trends Ecol Evol. 11:358-360.
15. Clayton NS. 1996. Development of food-storing and the hippocampus in juvenile marsh tits (Parus palustris). Behav Brain Res. 74:153-159.
16. Coppens CM, de Boer SF, Koolhaas JM. 2010. Coping styles and behavioural flexibility: towards underlying mechanisms. Philos Trans R Soc B Biol Sci. 365:4021-4028.
17. Dawson A, Goldsmith AR. 1983. Plasma prolactin and gonadotrophins during gonadal development and the onset of photorefractorines in male and female starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) on artificial photo-periods. J Endocrinol. 97:253-260.
18. DeVoogd TJ. 2004. Neural constraints on the complexity of avian song. Brain Behav Evol. 63:221-232.
19. Duffy DL, Ball GF. 2002. Song predicts immunocompetence in male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 269:847-852.
20. Eens M. 1997. Understanding the complex song of the European starling: an integrated ethological approach. Adv Study Behav. 26:355-434.
21. Eens M, Pinxten R, Verheyen RF. 1991. Male song as a cue for mate choice in the European starling. Behaviour. 116:210-238.
22. Fawcett TW, Skinner AMJ, Goldsmith AR. 2002. A test of imitative learning in starlings using a two-action method with an enhanced ghost control. Anim Behav. 64:547-556.
23. Feare C. 1984. The starling. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
24. Fisher MO, Nager RG, Monoghan P. 2006. Compensatory growth impairs adult cognitive performance. PLoS Biol. 4:1462-1466.
25. Gentner TQ, Hulse SH. 2000. Female European starling preference and choice for variation in conspecific song. Anim Behav. 59:443-459.
26. Giraldeau LA, Lefebvre L. 1987. Scrounging prevents cultural transmission of food finding behavior in pigeons. Anim Behav. 35:387-394.
27. Gould E, Tanapat P. 1999. Stress and hippocampal neurogenesis. Biol Psychiatry. 46:1472-1479.
28. Griffiths R, Double MC, Orr K, Dawson RJG. 1998. A DNA test to sex most birds. Mol Ecol. 7:1071-1075.
29. Hasselquist D, Bensch S, von Schantz T. 1996. Correlation between male song repertoire, extra-pair paternity and offspring survival in the great reed warbler. Nature. 281:229-232.
30. Hiebert SM, Stoddard PK, Arcese P. 1989. Repertoire size, territory acquisition and reproductive success in the song sparrow. Anim Behav. 37:266-273.
31. Holveck M, Riebel K. 2010. Low-quality females prefer low-quality males when choosing a mate. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 277:153-160.
32. Isgor C, Kabbaj M, Akil H, Watson SJ. 2004. Delayed effects of chronic variable stress during peripubertal-juvenile period on hippocampal morphology and on cognitive and stress axis function in rats. Hippocampus. 14:636-648.
33. Keagy J, Savard JF, Borgia G. 2011. Complex relationship between multiple measures of cognitive ability and male mating success in satin bowerbirds, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus. Anim Behav. 81:1063-1070.
34. Kendal RL, Coolen I, Laland KN. 2009. Adaptive trade-offs in the use of social and personal information. In: Dukas R, Ratcliffe JH, editors. Cognitive ecology II. Chicago (IL): Chicago University Press. p. 249-271.
35. Kessel B. 1957. A study of the breeding biology of the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) in North America. Am Midl Nat. 58:257-331.
36. MacDonald IF, Kempster B, Zanette L, MacDougall-Shackleton SA. 2006. Early nutritional stress impairs development of a song-control brain region in both male and female juvenile song sparrows (Me-lospiza melodia) at the onset of song learning. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 273:2259-2564.
37. Marchetti C, Drent PJ. 2000. Individual differences in the use of social information in foraging by captive great tits. Anim Behav. 60:131-140.
38. Metcalfe NB, Monaghan P. 2001. Compensation for a bad start: grow now, pay later? Trends Ecol Evol. 16:254-260.
39. Nottebohm F. 2005. The neural basis of birdsong. PLoS Biol. 3:759-761.
40. Nowicki S, Hasselquist D, Bensch S, Peters S. 2000. Nestling growth and song repertoire size in great reed warblers: evidence for song learning as an indicator mechanism in mate choice. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 267:2419-2424.
41. Nowicki S, Searcy WA. 2005. Song and mate choice in birds: how the development of behavior helps us understand function. Auk. 122:1-14.
42. Nowicki S, Searcy WA. 2011. Are better singers smarter? Behav Ecol. 22:10-11.
43. Nowicki S, Searcy WA, Peters S. 2002. Brain development, song learning and mate choice in birds: a review and experimental test of the "nutritional stress hypothesis". J Comp Physiol A. 188:1003-1014.
44. Nowicki S, Searcy WA, Podos J. 1998. Song learning, early nutrition and sexual selection in songbirds. Am Zool. 38:179-190.
45. Pfaff JA, Zanette L, MacDougall-Shackleton SA, MacDougall-Shackleton EA. 2007. Song repertoire size varies with HVC volume and is indicative of male quality in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Proc R Soc B Biol Sci. 274:2035-2040.
46. Pravosudov VV. 2009. Development of spatial memory and the hippocampus under nutritional stress: adaptive priorities or developmental constraints in brain development? In: Dukas R, Ratcliffe JH, editors. Cognitive ecology II. Chicago (IL): Chicago University Press. p. 88-110.
47. Pravosudov VV, Lavenex P, Omanska A. 2005. Nutritional deficits during early development affect hippocampal structure and spatial memory later in life. Behav Neurosci. 119:1368-1374.
48. Rice F, Jones I, Thapar A. 2007. The impact of gestational stress and prenatal growth on emotional problems in offspring: a review. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 115:171-183.
49. Schew WA, Ricklefs RE. 1998. Developmental plasticity. In: Starck JM, Ricklefs RE, editors. Avian growth and development: evolution within the altricial-percocial spectrum. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 288-304.
50. Searcy WA, Andersson M. 1986. Sexual selection and the evolution of song. Annu Rev Ecol Syst. 17:507-533.
51. Searcy WA, Nowicki S. 2009. Consequences of brain development for sexual signaling in songbirds. In: Dukas R, Ratcliffe JH, editors. Cognitive ecology II. Chicago (IL): Chicago University Press. p. 71-87.
52. Sherry DF, Galef BG. 1984. Cultural transmission without imitation: milk bottle opening by birds. Anim Behav. 32:937-938.
53. Sherry DF, Jacobs LF, Gaulin SJC. 1992. Spatial memory and adaptive specialization of the hippocampus. Trends Neurosci. 15:298-303.
54. Siegel SJ, Ginsberg SD, Hof PR, Foote SL, Young WG, Kraemer GW, McKinney WT, Morrision JH. 1993. Effects of social deprivation in prepubescent rhesus monkeys: immunohistochemical analysis of the neurofilament protein triplet in the hippocampal formation. Brain Res. 619:299-305.
55. Spencer KA, Buchanan KL, Goldsmith AR, Catchpole CK. 2004. Developmental stress, social rank and song complexity in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Proc R Soc Lond B (Suppl). 271:S121-S123.
56. Spencer KA, Buchanan KL, Leitner S, Goldsmith AR, Catchpole CK. 2005. Parasites affect song complexity and neural development in a songbird. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 272:2037-2040.
57. Spencer KA, MacDougall-Shackleton SA. 2011. Indicators of development as sexually selected traits: the developmental stress hypothesis in context. Behav Ecol. 22:1-9.
58. Spencer KA, Wimpenny JH, Buchanan KL, Lovel PG, Goldsmith AR, Catchpole CK. 2005. Developmental stress affects the attractiveness of male song and female choice in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 58:423-428.
59. Tabachnick BG, Fidell LS. 2007. Using multivariate statistics. 5th ed. Boston (MA): Allyn and Bacon.
60. Templeton JJ. 1998. Learning from others' mistakes: a paradox revisited. Anim Behav. 55:79-85.
61. Tsoory M, Richter-Levin G. 2006. Learning under stress in the adult rat is differentially affected by 'juvenile' or 'adolescent' stress. Int J Neuropsychoph. 9:713-728.
62. West BT, Welch KB, Galecki AT. 2007. Linear mixed models: a practical guide to using statistical software. Boca Raton (FL): Taylor and Francis Group.
63. Woodgate JL, Leitner S, Catchpole CK, Berg ML, Bennett ATD, Buchanan KL. 2011. Developmental stressors that impair song learning in males do not appear to affect female preferences for song complexity in the zebra finch. Behav Ecol. 22:566-573.
64. Zanette L, MacDougall-Shackleton EA, Clinchy M, Smith JNM. 2005. Brown-headed Cowbirds skew host offspring sex ratios. Ecology. 86:815-820.