ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2000
Nestling growth and song repertoire size in great reed warblers: evidence for song learning as an indicator mechanism in mate choice.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2000. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 192 citations in OpenAlex.
- A mechanistic link between chick diet and decline in seabirds?Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2006Trial
- Variation in song structure does not predict associative learning performance in zebra finches (Taeniopygia castanotis) raised under controlled cultural conditions.Animal cognition · 2026Article
- Song complexity is maintained during inter-population cultural transmission of humpback whale songs.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- A preliminary comparison of a songbird's song repertoire size and other song measures between an urban and a rural site.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Loss of vocal culture and fitness costs in a critically endangered songbird.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Evidence supporting the microbiota-gut-brain axis in a songbird.Biology letters · 2020Article
- Repeatability of signalling traits in the avian dawn chorus.Frontiers in zoology · 2019Article
- Cultural revolutions reduce complexity in the songs of humpback whales.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Genetic analyses reveal cryptic introgression in secretive marsh bird populations.Ecology and evolution · 2018Article
- Early life conditions that impact song learning in male zebra finches also impact neural and behavioral responses to song in females.Developmental neurobiology · 2018Article
- The effect of early life conditions on song traits in male dippers (Cinclus cinclus).PloS one · 2018Article
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- Are sexually selected traits affected by a poor environment early in life?BMC evolutionary biology · 2016Article
- Multiple song features are related to paternal effort in common nightingales.BMC evolutionary biology · 2015Article
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- Do females invest more into eggs when males sing more attractively? Postmating sexual selection strategies in a monogamous reed passerine.Ecology and evolution · 2014Article
- Potential trade-off between vocal ornamentation and spatial ability in a songbird.Biology letters · 2013Article
- A window on the past: male ornamental plumage reveals the quality of their early-life environment.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2013Article
- Habitat quality affects early physiology and subsequent neuromotor development of juvenile black-capped chickadees.PloS one · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Females of many songbird species show a preference for mating with males that have larger song repertoires, but the advantages associated with this preference are uncertain. We tested the hypothesis that song complexity can serve as an indicator of male quality because the development of the brain regions underlying song learning and production occurs when young birds typically face nutritional and other stresses, so that song reflects how well a male fared during post-hatch development. A key prediction of this hypothesis is that variation in nestling condition should correspond to variation in the adult song repertoires of individuals. We used data from a long-term study of the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) to test this prediction, correlating two measures of nestling development with subsequent repertoire size of males. We found that the length of the innermost primary feather, a standard measure of development, significantly predicted first-year repertoire size. The relationship between repertoire size and body mass was nearly significant, in spite of the large variance inherent in this measure. These data support the idea that song may provide females with information about a male's response to developmental stress, which in turn is expected to correlate with indirect or direct benefits she might receive.
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