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Element repertoire: change and development with age in Whitethroat Sylvia communis song

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Abstract

Song repertoires are often important determining factors in sexual selection. In several species, older males have larger repertoires than 1-year-old males. The development of large song repertoires by an individual is, however, poorly understood. We studied song element repertoire changes in five individual male Whitethroats Sylvia communis sampled as 1- and 2-year olds. These males increased the size of their element repertoire between their first and second year, but song length and number of different elements per song did not change. On average, 44.3% of the song elements in the first-year repertoire were also found in the second-year repertoire. Elements shared between years were found earlier in the songs and tended to occur in sequences. Sequences of shared elements also seemed to be conserved between years. The study suggests that the song element repertoire of the second year is partly based on the first-year repertoire, which may explain why large song repertoires are mainly expressed by males at least 2 years of age. It would appear, therefore, that song element repertoire size could be a reliable signal of male age.

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Acknowledgments

The bird banding was performed with permission of the ringing centre at the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark. The ringing centre also provided the metal rings for ringing the Whitethroats. We thank the landowners and the hunters in Venning for allowing us to study the Whitethroats on their respective properties. TJSB is supported by a Steno stipend from the Danish Natural Science Research Council. This project complies with the laws of Denmark. The authors wish to thank the reviewers for their comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behaviour Group, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    Thorsten Johannes Skovbjerg Balsby

  2. Natural History Museum Århus, Wilhelm Meyers Allé 210, Universitetsparken, 8000, Århus C, Denmark

    Poul Hansen

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  1. Thorsten Johannes Skovbjerg Balsby
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  2. Poul Hansen
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Correspondence to Thorsten Johannes Skovbjerg Balsby.

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Communicated by F. Bairlein.

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Balsby, T.J.S., Hansen, P. Element repertoire: change and development with age in Whitethroat Sylvia communis song. J Ornithol 151, 469–476 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-009-0481-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-009-0481-4

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