Dissertation Research: Testing an Ecological Hypothesis for the Evolution of Song Development in the Agelaius and Quiscalus Blackbirds (Passeriformes: Icteridae)

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Dissertation Research: Testing an Ecological Hypothesis for the Evolution of Song Development in the Agelaius and Quiscalus Blackbirds (Passeriformes: Icteridae) DONALD E. KROODSMA AND ELIJAH A. GOODWIN The stunning diversity of vocal learning strategies in the songbirds provides an outstanding resource for understanding animal communication. Despite major advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of song production and song learning, however, we still lack a clear set of hypotheses to explain the evolution of this wide variety in learning styles and to relate them back to the ecology of the animal. To address this need, this study will test and expand upon the hypothesis that song imitation evolves in concert with breeding neighborhood stability and that song improvisation evolves in concert with breeding neighborhood instability. This hypothesis will be tested using comparative studies of migratory and sedentary species within two genera of blackbirds, Agelaius and Quiscalus. The study will document the song learning behavior for each species using a combination of field studies and aviary-rearing experiments. Field studies will test for song sharing between neighbors and the presence of micro-geographic song dialects, while the aviary studies will look for differences in song learning styles by different species raised under the same conditions.