Medina Rodríguez, Orlando J.

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    Vocal interactions and song performance in Adelaide’s warbler (Setophaga adelaidae)
    (2015) Medina Rodríguez, Orlando J.; Logue, David M.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Macchiavelli, Raúl; Santos, Carlos; Department of Biology; Quiñones, Leonel
    Vocal interactions are very common in songbirds. Song-type matching is a kind of vocal interaction in which an individual matches the song-type that his neighbor sang. Traditionally, song-type matching has been considered a signal of aggressive intent, but recent studies fail to support this hypothesis. An alternative hypothesis states that song-type matching facilitates female eavesdroppers’ comparison of song performance. This hypothesis predicts that matching songs should be higher performance than non-matching songs, and that non-matching answers should be lower performance than non-answers. I tested these predictions in a population of Adelaide’s warbler (Setophaga adelaidae). Nine territorial males were recorded four times each, for three and a half hours during morning singing. A linear mixed model was done, testing four metrics of performance. Both predictions of the ‘facilitating comparison’ hypothesis were supported, but effect sizes were small. In addition, I characterized the song-type repertoires of the subjects, described their vocal duets, and tested the joint territory defense hypothesis of duet function. The hypothesis states that female song answering (the behavior that generates duets) signals cooperative territory defense. I found support for the joint territory defense hypothesis: duets were temporally associated with fights between males, and were particularly common after fights. This research represents novel methods and support for key hypotheses in this group of new world wrabler.