Acoustic Communication in Birds

Song Learning & Its Consequences

Kroodsma

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 1983
• Print ISBN: 9780124268029
• eBook ISBN: 9780080924175
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Zoology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Acoustic Communication in Birds, Volume 2: Song Learning and Its Consequences investigates acoustic communication in birds, with emphasis on song learning and its consequences. Some issues in the study of bird sounds are discussed, with particular reference to evolutionary considerations. The ontogeny of acoustic behavior in birds is also considered, along with sound production, neural control of song, and auditory perception. Comprised of nine chapters, this volume begins with an introduction to the nature, extent, and evolution of vocal learning in birds. Several well-documented examples in which vocal development appears to proceed independently of audition (and therefore independently of vocal learning) are presented, together with aspects of selective vocal learning; the timing of vocal learning; and selective forces that may have promoted the evolution of vocal learning in birds. Subsequent chapters explore the role of subsong and plastic song in the vocal learning process; the function and evolution of avian vocal mimicry; the ecological and social significance of duetting in birds; and microgeographic and macrogeographic variation in the acquired vocalizations of birds. The book also examines genetic population structure and vocal dialects in Zonotrichia (Emberizidae). This monograph will be of interest to ornithologists, evolutionary biologists, and zoologists, as well as to students of communication and bioacoustics.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Song Learning and its Consequences
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Dedication
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Note on Taxonomy
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Learning and the Ontogeny of Sound Signals in Birds
• Chapter 2. Subsong and Plastic Song: Their Role in the Vocal Learning Process
• Chapter 3. Avian Vocal Mimicry: Its Function and Evolution
• Chapter 4. The Ecological and Social Significance of Duetting
• Chapter 5. Song Repertoires: Problems in Their Definition and Use
• Chapter 6. Microgeographic and Macrogeographic Variation in the Acquired Vocalizations of Birds
• Chapter 7. Genetic Population Structure and Vocal Dialects in Zonotrichia (Emberizidae)
• Chapter 8. Individual Recognition by Sounds in Birds
• Chapter 9. Conceptual Issues in the Study of Communication
• Appendix: A World Survey of Evidence for Vocal Learning in Birds
• Taxonomic Index
• Subject Index
• Contents of Volume 1
• REFERENCES