The evolution of song discrimination in pied flycatchers
We are seeking a motivated, responsible student to perform song playback experiments to 12-day old nestling flycatcher songbirds to resolve a key question about what factors drive the evolution of song discrimination in birds. The student would gain valuable experience conducting field work and analyzing data, working as part of an international project comprised of researchers from the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and the UK.
The fieldwork would take place in the Netherlands between April and June, 2018.
Background
Juvenile songbirds learn their songs by listening to and copying the vocalizations produced by adults, but they are rarely actively tutored. How do juvenile songbirds ensure they learn the right songs?
Remarkably, birds as young as 10 days old can recognize their own species’ songs, which should help them learn the “right” songs. However, we do not know what factors drive the evolution of this ability. One explanation is that high costs of mating with the wrong species select for juveniles to discriminate against other species songs. In this case, a key prediction is that nestlings should discriminate most strongly against the songs of other species only in populations where they co-occur.
Research Plan
Previous studies have shown that 12-day old nestling pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) respond more to their own species’ songs where they co-occur with closely related collared flycatchers in Sweden. In order help determine if these pied flycatcher nestlings can discriminate because they co-occur with collared flycatchers, we need to test whether or how strongly pied flycatchers discriminate against collared flycatcher songs in locations, including the Netherlands, where collared flycatchers are absent.
The student would, in collaboration with a Swedish-based researcher and a local Dutch team, perform field experiments to fill in this gap. The experiments involve temporary collecting nestlings and video recording their responses to different songs in the field. Each experiment takes around 20 minutes and we hope to test 30-50 clutches. After recordings are collected, the behavior of individual nestlings is quantified from video analysis and compared across song treatments. Then, the discrimination of Dutch pied flycatchers could be compared to that of Swedish pied flycatchers who co-occur with collared flycatchers. These protocols are well-established and have been used successfully over the last 4 years.
For more information, please contact Marcel Visser, head of the Animal Ecology department.
