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Conspecific-only experience during development reduces the strength of heterospecific song discrimination in Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata): a test of the optimal acceptance threshold hypothesis

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Abstract

Conspecifics during development provide the most reliable sensory cues for species recognition in parental bird species. The Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) is a sexually dimorphic model species used for investigations of the behavioural cues and neurobiological substrates of species recognition. Regarding acoustic conspecific cues, theory predicts that exposure to both con- and heterospecific vocalisations and other environmental sounds results in more accurate auditory species discrimination, because diverse vocal cues during development shift optimal conspecific acceptance thresholds to be more restrictive to yield fewer acceptance errors. We tested the behavioural preferences of female and male Zebra Finches raised in an outdoor environment (Control) and female and male Zebra Finches reared in an indoor colony with exposure to Zebra Finches only (Restricted), to playbacks of songs of Zebra Finches, Zebra Finches cross-fostered by Bengalese Finches (Lonchura striata var. domestica), and Bengalese Finches. Several behavioural measures revealed minimal sexual dimorphism in discrimination but showed that Control subjects preferred conspecifics’ songs over either the songs of cross-fostered Zebra Finches or Bengalese Finches. Restricted Zebra Finches in contrast did not discriminate behaviourally between the three song types. These results support the concept of a shift in the species acceptance threshold in the restricted treatment resulting in more acceptance errors. We discuss future work to test the role of exposure to diverse vocal cues of both con- and heterospecifics in the ontogeny of song perception in this important laboratory model species for social recognition research.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship (to D.L.M.C.) and grants from the University of Auckland Research Council (staff fund and ECRE), the Faculty of Science Professional Development Fund, and the New Zealand Marsden Fund (to M.E.H.). We are grateful for comments from members of the neuroethology group at the University of Auckland, Naomi Langmore, Katharina Riebel, Sarah M.N. Woolley, and thankful for assistance from B. Igic, N. Krutzfeldt and R. Shaw. All experiments were approved by the University of Auckland Animal Ethics Committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, PB 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Dana L. M. Campbell & Mark E. Hauber

  2. Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Mark E. Hauber

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  1. Dana L. M. Campbell
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  2. Mark E. Hauber
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Correspondence to Dana L. M. Campbell.

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Communicated by F. Bairlein.

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Campbell, D.L.M., Hauber, M.E. Conspecific-only experience during development reduces the strength of heterospecific song discrimination in Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata): a test of the optimal acceptance threshold hypothesis. J Ornithol 151, 379–389 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-009-0466-3

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