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Re-examination of monotony threshold hypothesis in bird song

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Abstract

HARTSHORNE1,2 has suggested that a relationship exists between the degree of versatility and continuity in bird song. According to this view, singing which is relatively continuous, with pauses between successive songs relatively short when compared with the length of the song, would tend to be highly monotonous unless successive utterances were variable in pattern.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, McGill University, PO Box 6070, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3C 3G1

    CHARLES W. DOBSON & ROBERT E. LEMON

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  1. CHARLES W. DOBSON
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  2. ROBERT E. LEMON
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DOBSON, C., LEMON, R. Re-examination of monotony threshold hypothesis in bird song. Nature 257, 126–128 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/257126a0

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