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Loudness of syllables is related to syntax and phonology in the songs of canaries and seedeaters

Loudness of syllables is related to syntax and phonology in the songs of canaries and seedeaters Loudness of syllables is related to syntax and phonology in the songs of canaries and seedeaters Gonçalo C. Cardoso 1,3) & Paulo Gama Mota 2) ( 1 Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; 2 Departamento de Antropologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000-056 Coimbra, Portugal) (Accepted: 21 June 2009) Summary Birdsongs often comprise a variety of different syllables, and some studies compared sound amplitude among syllables to infer which traits may be more demanding to sing loudly. We measured sound amplitude of syllables within songs of 24 species of Serinus , and found that in 19 species some traits were consistently sung less loudly. This suggests that it is not uncommon that some syllable traits are more demanding than others to sing loudly. Which syllable traits were sung softer varied to a certain extent among species, but some were consistent across the genus: brief syllables and composite syllables (syllables with several elements) were sung less loudly in many species. Across species, the more elements composite syllables had, the stronger its negative effect on loudness, suggesting repeated evolution of a costly trait. We also found that song syntax was related to aspects of vocal output. Repeated syntax http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Behaviour Brill

Loudness of syllables is related to syntax and phonology in the songs of canaries and seedeaters

Mota, Paulo Gama; Cardoso, Gonçalo
Behaviour , Volume 146 (12): 1649 – Jan 1, 2009
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2009 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0005-7959
eISSN
1568-539X
DOI
10.1163/000579509X12459309661649
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Loudness of syllables is related to syntax and phonology in the songs of canaries and seedeaters Gonçalo C. Cardoso 1,3) & Paulo Gama Mota 2) ( 1 Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; 2 Departamento de Antropologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000-056 Coimbra, Portugal) (Accepted: 21 June 2009) Summary Birdsongs often comprise a variety of different syllables, and some studies compared sound amplitude among syllables to infer which traits may be more demanding to sing loudly. We measured sound amplitude of syllables within songs of 24 species of Serinus , and found that in 19 species some traits were consistently sung less loudly. This suggests that it is not uncommon that some syllable traits are more demanding than others to sing loudly. Which syllable traits were sung softer varied to a certain extent among species, but some were consistent across the genus: brief syllables and composite syllables (syllables with several elements) were sung less loudly in many species. Across species, the more elements composite syllables had, the stronger its negative effect on loudness, suggesting repeated evolution of a costly trait. We also found that song syntax was related to aspects of vocal output. Repeated syntax

Journal

Behaviour – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2009

Keywords: SYNTAX; BIRDSONG; COSTLY TRAITS; LOUDNESS

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