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Sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds

Production and perception of birdsong critically depends on early developmental experience. In species where singing is a sexually dimorphic trait, early life song experience may affect later behavior differently between sexes. It is known that both male and female songbirds acquire a life-long memo...

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Autores principales: Fujii, Tomoko G., Ikebuchi, Maki, Okanoya, Kazuo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7816980/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33471804
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243811
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author Fujii, Tomoko G.
Ikebuchi, Maki
Okanoya, Kazuo
author_facet Fujii, Tomoko G.
Ikebuchi, Maki
Okanoya, Kazuo
author_sort Fujii, Tomoko G.
collection PubMed
description Production and perception of birdsong critically depends on early developmental experience. In species where singing is a sexually dimorphic trait, early life song experience may affect later behavior differently between sexes. It is known that both male and female songbirds acquire a life-long memory of early song experience, though its function remains unclear. In this study, we hypothesized that male and female birds express a preference for their fathers’ song, but do so differently depending on the developmental stage. We measured preference for their father’s song over an unfamiliar one in both male and female Bengalese finches at multiple time points across ontogeny, using phonotaxis and vocal response as indices of preference. We found that in males, selective approach to their father’s song decreased as they developed while in females, it remained stable regardless of age. This may correspond to a higher sensitivity to tutor song in young males while they are learning and a retained sensitivity in females because song is a courtship signal that is used throughout life. In addition, throughout development, males vocalized less frequently during presentation of their father’s song compared to unfamiliar song, whereas females emitted more calls to their father’s song. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of why songbirds acquire and maintain such a robust song memory.
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spelling pubmed-78169802021-01-28 Sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds Fujii, Tomoko G. Ikebuchi, Maki Okanoya, Kazuo PLoS One Research Article Production and perception of birdsong critically depends on early developmental experience. In species where singing is a sexually dimorphic trait, early life song experience may affect later behavior differently between sexes. It is known that both male and female songbirds acquire a life-long memory of early song experience, though its function remains unclear. In this study, we hypothesized that male and female birds express a preference for their fathers’ song, but do so differently depending on the developmental stage. We measured preference for their father’s song over an unfamiliar one in both male and female Bengalese finches at multiple time points across ontogeny, using phonotaxis and vocal response as indices of preference. We found that in males, selective approach to their father’s song decreased as they developed while in females, it remained stable regardless of age. This may correspond to a higher sensitivity to tutor song in young males while they are learning and a retained sensitivity in females because song is a courtship signal that is used throughout life. In addition, throughout development, males vocalized less frequently during presentation of their father’s song compared to unfamiliar song, whereas females emitted more calls to their father’s song. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of why songbirds acquire and maintain such a robust song memory. Public Library of Science 2021-01-20 /pmc/articles/PMC7816980/ /pubmed/33471804 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243811 Text en © 2021 Fujii et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Fujii, Tomoko G.
Ikebuchi, Maki
Okanoya, Kazuo
Sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds
title Sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds
title_full Sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds
title_fullStr Sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds
title_full_unstemmed Sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds
title_short Sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds
title_sort sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7816980/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33471804
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243811
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