Abstract
Vocal communication is used across taxa to convey a range of information. One of the most well-studied vocal behaviors is the song of temperate passerine birds. Among individuals, male song differs across numerous acoustic parameters, many of which are used by females to assess male quality. Males in better condition often produce higher song output and start singing earlier in the day compared to other males. However, the energetic cost of singing varies throughout the day and may be affected by the singer’s foraging abilities. Along an elevation gradient, harsher environmental conditions at higher elevations shape foraging abilities in mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli), which are non-migratory food hoarders. High-elevation mountain chickadees exhibit superior spatial cognitive abilities and a higher propensity to cache food, which enables them to forage more efficiently, compared to lower elevation birds. High-elevation males may therefore be able to produce higher song output, especially earlier in the day, than low-elevation males. We compared the daily singing routines of male mountain chickadees inhabiting high and low elevations. We found no difference in total daily song output between elevations; however, high-elevation males sang significantly more than low-elevation males at dawn, when singing is both crucial for reproductive opportunities and most costly due to overnight fasting. Song output at dawn may therefore act as an indicator of condition in male mountain chickadees.
Significance statement
Animals communicate across modalities to exchange information about foraging, predators, and movements. Researchers have studied the vocalizations of songbirds to understand how individual variation affects the behavior of receives, particularly regarding male song and female mating preferences. The song of many songbirds is learned locally and contains information about the location of origin and respective selective pressures. We tested whether natural access to food via food cache recovery was associated with daily singing routines in food-caching birds. Singing at dawn is thought to be costly as it follows overnight fasting. We found that birds from harsher environments—where selection for enhanced spatial cognitive abilities required for cache retrieval is much stronger—sing more at dawn compared to males from milder environments, where selection on spatial cognition is relaxed. This work shows that environmental selection pressures affect signal production in male songbirds, which may provide information to females during mate choice.
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Acknowledgements
VVP and CLB were supported by the National Science Foundation grant (IOS2119824 and IOS1856181) to VVP. CLB was also supported by the NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (IOS1600845) and Edward W. Rose Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We would like to thank Dr. Jeff Podos and 2 anonymous reviewers for providing feedback that greatly improved the manuscript. We would also like to thank Jeff Brown and Dan Sayer of Sagehen Creek Field Station (University of California Berkeley) for their invaluable assistance at our field site.
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CLB designed the experiment and collected automated song recordings. SYH, DSL, and VH analyzed song data. SYH conducted statistical analyses and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. CLB and VVP advised on statistical analyses and writing of the manuscript.
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To the best of our knowledge, no birds were harmed by the collection of this data. All applicable national and institutional guidelines for the use of animals were followed. All procedures were approved by the UNR IACUC ethics committee in accordance with the UNR IACUC protocol (00046), under California Department of Fish and Wildlife Permit SC-5210 (DocID: D-0019571790–9).
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Huang, S.Y., Schaening-Lopez, D., Halterman, V. et al. Differences in daily singing routines reflect male condition along a montane gradient. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 76, 138 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03246-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03246-x