IngentaConnect Is bird song a reliable signal of aggressive intent? A reply

Authors: Searcy, William¹; Anderson, Rindy²; Nowicki, Stephen²

Source: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Volume 62, Number 7, May 2008 , pp. 1213-1216(4)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

We advocate assessing the reliability of signals of aggressive intent by eliciting aggressive signaling from a subject, giving the subject an opportunity to attack a model, and testing whether the subject's displays predict a subsequent attack. Using this design, we found that most singing behaviors are poor predictors of attack in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Laidre and Vehrencamp (Behav Ecol Sociobiol, DOI 10.1007/s00265-007-0539-3, 2008) suggested altering our experimental design to make the model more realistic; it remains to be seen whether such design changes would change the association between display and attack. Laidre and Vehrencamp (Behav Ecol Sociobiol, DOI 10.1007/s00265-007-0539-3, 2008) also suggested that the reliability of soft song, the one display that predicts attack in song sparrows, can be explained by a vulnerability cost. We question the rationale for a vulnerability cost for this display and suggest instead that soft song has a competing functions cost, in that, by using soft song to counter an intruder, a male sacrifices other possible functions of vocal signaling.

Keywords: Animal communication; Reliability; Soft song; Vulnerability

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1007/s00265-008-0569-5

Affiliations: 1: Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33124, USA, Email: wsearcy@miami.edu 2: Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

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