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Female perception of cowbird song: A closed developmental program
Author(s) -
King Andrew P.,
West Meredith J.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420160408
Subject(s) - cowbird , perception , zoology , sound production , preference , biology , psychology , ecology , brood parasite , host (biology) , parasitism , mathematics , physics , neuroscience , statistics , acoustics
Abstract To investigate the modifiability of the brown‐headed female cowbird's ( Molothrus ater ater ) response to male song, we reared M.a. ater females with either M.a. ater or M.a. obscurus males, whose songs differ in geographic origin. The females were later tested for their responsiveness to playbacks of M.a. ater and M.a. obscurus song. Rearing with M.a. obscurus males had no effect on the female's preference for her native song variant, suggesting a closed program for receptive development. The data on song perception are contrasted with those previously obtained for male production and indicate different constraints on song perception as opposed to song production.