The Ecology and Development of Male Song Production and Female Song Preferences in Brown-Headed Cowbirds From Different Environments

非技术摘要9728091罗斯坦，S. I.本研究采用野外与实验室相结合的方法，探讨一种常见鸣禽褐头牛鹂发声行为的发展。主要重点是阐明限制或增强学习过程的生态条件，以及（1）雌性识别雄性鸣叫的发展与（2）雄性鸣叫产生的发展之间的一致性。将通过研究不同生态条件下的野生鸟类和短期圈养鸟类来研究歌曲结构和功能来实现目标。燕八哥对动物行为和生态学的研究很重要，原因有几个。大量的前期工作使其成为研究鸣禽发声发育的模型，这与人类的语音发育非常相似。然而，许多先前的工作仅限于圈养鸟类，可能无法反映自然界中发生的学习过程。此外，该物种是一种育雏寄生虫，其幼仔由宿主物种抚养，但仍然克服了这种早期行为剥夺，只学习牛鸟发声。燕八哥除了作为早期剥夺行为发展的模型外，对濒危物种和生物多样性的保护也很重要。其他物种可能会将父母的大量精力转移到饲养燕八哥上，以至于他们有时会饲养太少的自己的后代，以确保宿主种群的持续性。在这项研究中获得的基本知识可能会导致改善目前广泛的和非常昂贵的管理工作，以改善燕八哥寄生的影响。

Non Technical Abstract 9728091 Rothstein, S. I. This project employs integrated field and laboratory approaches to investigate the development of vocal behavior in a common songbird, the Brown-headed Cowbird. Major emphases are elucidation of the ecological conditions that limit or enhance learning processes and the concordance between (1) the development of female recognition of male song and (2) the development of male song production. Goals will be pursued by studying wild birds under different ecological conditions and by bringing birds into captivity for short periods to study song structure and function. The cowbird is important to the study of animal behavior and ecology for several reasons. The extensive amount of prior work on it has made it a model for studies of vocal development in songbirds, which is remarkably similar to speech development in humans. However, much of the prior work has been limited to captive birds and may not reflect learning processes that occur in nature. In addition, this species is a brood parasite whose young are raised by a host species but nevertheless overcomes this early behavioral deprivation and learns only cow-bird vocalizations. Besides serving as a model for behavioral development in the face of early deprivation, the cowbird is also significant to endangered species and to the preservation of biodiversity. Other species may divert so much of their parental effort towards raising cowbirds that they sometimes raise too few of their own young to ensure the persistence of host populations. The basic knowledge gained in this study may lead to improvements to the extensive and very costly management efforts currently employed to ameliorate the impacts of cowbird parasitism.