Song behaviour and reproductive strategies in a duetting wren, Thryothorus nigricapillus : I. Removal experiments
Song behaviour and reproductive strategies in a duetting wren,
Thryothorus nigricapillus
: I. Removal experiments
复制标题
二重奏鹪鹩的鸣叫行为和繁殖策略，Thyothorus nigricapillus：I.去除实验
作者：
R. N. Levin
摘要在巴拿马共和国的黑腹海燕(Thryothorus Nigricapillas)中，进行了去除配偶的实验，以检验发声对唱在维持配对关系和/或领土防御中的作用。在已建立的配对中，雄性和雌性被观察到，而在去掉配偶和新配偶到来后，则是单独的。然后比较了与新老伙伴一起唱歌的鸟类的二重唱曲目和二重唱表演的精确度。另一项在两个地区交换男性的实验也进行了类似的分析。这些实验证明(1)个人曲目和二重奏精度不会随着配偶的改变而改变，这驳斥了配对纽带维持假说，以及(2)未配对的鸟类不会失去它们的领土，未能支持二重奏对于领土防御是必要的假设。对发声率的分析表明，男歌和女歌的作用不同。男性的发声行为对男性的交配状态很敏感：当男性独处时，他们的发声率会显著增加。然而，与原伴侣相比，雄性对新伴侣的回应频率要低一些。这些结果表明，没有配对的男性唱歌是为了吸引女性，男性可能会利用参与二重唱来评估新的伴侣。在已确定的配对中，雄性二重唱的作用尚不清楚。雌性鸣叫率不受雌性交配状态的影响，这表明雌性歌曲可能是针对同种雌性的。研究结果还表明，领地居住权在男性获得配偶方面的作用可能比女性更重要。
Abstract Mate removal experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses that vocal duetting functions in pair bond maintenance and/or territory defence in the bay wren,Thryothorus nigricapillus, in the Republic of Panama. Males and females were observed while in established pairs, while alone after mate removal and following the arrival of a new mate. Duet repertoires and precision of duet performance were then compared in birds singing with old and new mates. Another experiment in which males were exchanged between two territories was similarly analysed. These experiments demonstrated that (1) individual repertoires and duet precision do not change following a change in mates, refuting the pair bond maintenance hypothesis, and (2) unpaired birds do not lose their territories, failing to support the hypothesis that duets are necessary for territory defence. Analysis of vocalization rates suggested that male and female songs serve different functions. Male vocal behaviour was sensitive to male mating status: when males were alone, their vocalization rates dramatically increased. However, males answered the songs of a new mate less frequently than they did those of their original mate. These results suggest that unpaired males sing to attract females and that males might use participation in duets to assess new mates. The function of duetting by males in established pairs remains unclear. Female song rates were unaffected by female mating status, suggesting that female songs may be directed to conspecific females. Results also indicated that territory residency may play a more important role in mate acquisition for males than it does for females.