DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Learning through Eavesdropping: Field Experiments on Song Learning in Birds

通过滴雨学习：鸟类学歌的野外实验。Brenowitz，P.I.DDIG：提案编号：IOS-0808562鸟类复杂而美丽的歌声一直吸引着人类。对于鸣禽来说，这些歌声更有趣，因为它们必须学会。鸟类的鸣唱学习已经在实验室中得到了广泛的分析，并且已经成为研究动物学习的生态学、进化、神经生物学和遗传学的主要模型系统。此外，鸟类和人类的声音学习之间有许多相似之处，包括社会因素的重要性，使鸟类的歌声成为研究人类语言学习的最佳模型之一。本研究是一项野外实验研究，旨在探讨社会因素在鸟类鸣唱学习中的作用。令人惊讶的是，过去几年的实验室工作表明，幼鸟更容易受到他偷听到的歌唱互动的影响，而不是他与成年歌曲导师的直接互动。最近的野外工作，使用无线电遥测跟踪幼鸟在野外，并观察他们与成年导师的互动，也证实了窃听唱歌互动的重要性。本研究将利用无线电和心率遥测技术，对不同类型的模拟鸣唱对幼年鸣唱麻雀的行为和生理反应进行实验研究。本研究将探讨偷听在歌曲学习的重要性，通过评估幼鸟对不同类型的成人歌唱比赛与成人独唱的反应。这些现场实验的结果将补充以前和正在进行的实验室研究，阐明社会因素，塑造歌曲的发展，在这个模型声乐学习系统。除了其科学影响，这项工作将具有相当大的教育价值，通过专门培训的本科生和通过正式的教育经验和无数的非正式互动与公众在现场（一个忙碌城市公园）。

LEARNING THROUGH EAVESDROPPING: FIELD EXPERIMENTS ON SONG LEARNING IN BIRDSEliot A. Brenowitz, P.I.DDIG: Proposal #: IOS-0808562The complex and beautiful songs of birds have always intrigued humans. For the Oscine passerines (songbirds), these songs are even more interesting because they must be learned. Song learning in birds has been extensively analyzed in the laboratory and has become a major model system for studying the ecology, evolution, neurobiology, and genetics of learning in animals. In addition, there are many parallels between the vocal learning of birds and humans, including the importance of social factors, making bird song one of the best models for studying human language learning. This research is an experimental field study investigating the role of social factors in bird song learning. Laboratory work of the last few years has suggested, surprisingly, that a young bird is more influenced by singing interactions he eavesdrops on than by direct interactions he has with adult song tutors. Recent fieldwork, using radio telemetry to follow juvenile birds in the wild and observe their interactions with adult tutors, also corroborates the importance of eavesdropping on singing interactions. The present study will use radio and heart rate telemetry to experimentally examine the behavioral and physiological response of juvenile song sparrows to different types of simulated singing. This research will investigate the importance of eavesdropping in song learning by assessing the response of juvenile birds to playback of different types of adult singing contests compared with solo adult singing. The results from these field experiments will compliment previous and ongoing laboratory research in elucidating the social factors that shape song development in this model vocal learning system. In addition to its scientific impacts, this work will be of considerable educational value, through dedicated training of undergraduates and through formal educational experiences and countless informal interactions with the general public at the field site (a busy urban park).