ArticleNature communications2023
Sexual selection for both diversity and repetition in birdsong.
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Social environment affects vocal individuality in a non-learning species.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Examining the Effectiveness of Automated Acoustic Recording Units for Recording Predator-Related Disturbances in Colony Nesting Birds: A Case Study.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- The role of musical pitch in long-distance defensive signaling.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
- Lack of sex-specific syllables and high female song variability support relaxed selection on female song in Orchard Orioles (The Wilson journal of ornithology · 2025Article
- Global analysis of acoustic frequency characteristics in birds.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Adult neurogenesis is necessary for functional regeneration of a forebrain neural circuit.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Male song structure predicts offspring recruitment to the breeding population in a migratory bird.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2024Article
- A genomic basis of vocal rhythm in birds.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
From fiddler crabs to humans, animals perform repetitive displays showing neuromotor skill and vigour. Consistent repetition of identical notes (vocal consistency) facilitates the assessment of neuromotor skills and is important in communication in birds. Most birdsong research has focused on song diversity as a signal of individual quality, which seems contradictory as repetition is extremely common in most species. Here we show that consistent repetition within songs is positively correlated with reproductive success in male blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). A playback experiment shows that females are sexually aroused by male songs with high levels of vocal consistency, which also peaks seasonally during the fertile period of the female, supporting the role of vocal consistency in mate choice. Male vocal consistency also increases with subsequent repetitions of the same song type (a warm-up effect) which conflicts with the fact that females habituate to repeated song, showing decreased arousal. Importantly, we find that switching song types elicits significant dishabituation within the playback, supporting the habituation hypothesis as an evolutionary mechanism driving song diversity in birds. An optimal balance between repetition and diversity may explain the singing style of many bird species and displays of other animals.
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