Is the Soft Song of the Brownish-Flanked Bush Warbler an Aggressive Signal?

Xia, Canwei; Liu, Jiayu; Alström, Per; Wu, Qiao; Zhang, Yanyun

doi:10.1111/eth.12104

Research article2013Peer reviewed

Is the Soft Song of the Brownish-Flanked Bush Warbler an Aggressive Signal?

Xia, Canwei; Liu, Jiayu; Alström, Per; Wu, Qiao; Zhang, Yanyun

Abstract

Soft songs have been detected in many songbirds, but in most species, research on soft songs has lagged behind studies of broadcast songs. In this study, we describe the acoustic features of a soft song in the brownish-flanked bush warbler Cettia fortipes. Compared with the broadcast song, the warbler's soft song was characterized by a lower minimum frequency and longer duration, and it had a higher proportion of rapid frequency modulation notes. Using playback experiments, some in combination with mounted specimens, we found different responses to soft and broadcast songs, and we found that soft song can predict aggressive escalation (attack). We conclude that the soft song is an aggressive signal in this species.

Published in

Ethology
2013, Volume: 119, number: 8, pages: 653-661 Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL

SLU Authors

Alström, Per
- SLU Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology
Zoology
Evolutionary Biology

Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.12104

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/52228