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Functional and Evolutionary Relationships of Vocal Copying Phenomena in Birds
Author(s) -
Dobkin David S.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
zeitschrift für tierpsychologie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0044-3573
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1979.tb01037.x
Subject(s) - copying , imitation , mimicry , vocal communication , confusion , vocal learning , communication , psychology , biology , zoology , social psychology , genetics , psychoanalysis
Vocal copying (vocal imitation, vocal mimicry, and vocal convergence) in birds is reviewed and synthesized by placing these phenomena in a functional and evolutionary framework. Confusion surrounding avian vocal copying has resulted from vague and inconsistently applied terminology, virtually no experimental field work, and a failure to consider vocal copying in an evolutionary perspective. Four categories of vocal copying are recognized herein: vocal appropriation, vocal imitation, vocal mimicry, and vocal convergence or nondivergence. Vocal mimicry, a vocalization that serves to deceive a signalreceiver, is the rarest of the four categories and has not been verified experimentally.