Dissertation Research: Testing an Ecological Hypothesis for the Evolution of Song Development in the Agelaius and Quiscalus Blackbirds (Passeriformes: Icteridae)

论文研究：检验鸣禽和鸣禽鸣叫发育进化的生态学假说鸣禽和鸣禽(雀形目：黄蜂科)Donald E.Kroodsma和Elijah A.Goodwin鸣禽发声学习策略的惊人多样性为了解动物交流提供了一个出色的资源。然而，尽管我们对歌曲产生和学习的机制有了很大的了解，但我们仍然缺乏一套明确的假说来解释学习风格如此广泛的多样性的演变，并将它们与动物的生态联系起来。为了解决这一需要，本研究将检验和扩展假设，即歌曲模仿与繁育邻域稳定性一致进化，歌曲即兴创作与繁育邻域不稳定性一致进化。这一假设将通过对黑鸟两个属的迁徙和栖息物种的比较研究来检验，这两个属分别是黑鸟和黑鸟。这项研究将通过实地研究和鸟类饲养实验相结合的方式，记录每个物种的歌唱学习行为。田野研究将测试邻居之间的歌曲共享以及微地理歌曲方言的存在，而鸟类研究将寻找在相同条件下饲养的不同物种在歌曲学习风格上的差异。

Dissertation Research: Testing an Ecological Hypothesis for the Evolution of Song Development in the Agelaius and Quiscalus Blackbirds (Passeriformes: Icteridae)DONALD E. KROODSMA AND ELIJAH A. GOODWINThe stunning diversity of vocal learning strategies in the songbirds provides an outstanding resource for understanding animal communication. Despite major advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of song production and song learning, however, we still lack a clear set of hypotheses to explain the evolution of this wide variety in learning styles and to relate them back to the ecology of the animal. To address this need, this study will test and expand upon the hypothesis that song imitation evolves in concert with breeding neighborhood stability and that song improvisation evolves in concert with breeding neighborhood instability. This hypothesis will be tested using comparative studies of migratory and sedentary species within two genera of blackbirds, Agelaius and Quiscalus. The study will document the song learning behavior for each species using a combination of field studies and aviary-rearing experiments. Field studies will test for song sharing between neighbors and the presence of micro-geographic song dialects, while the aviary studies will look for differences in song learning styles by different species raised under the same conditions.