[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/ Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

A review of hypotheses for the functions of avian duetting

  • Review
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Avian duets are striking for the remarkable precision with which duetting partners sometimes coordinate their songs. Duetting species are taxonomically diverse, and the form of their duets varies. The reasons some birds duet when most do not remains unclear despite numerous hypotheses for its function. I review work done so far on duetting, discuss evidence for and against hypotheses for its functions, and highlight approaches useful for future research. The four hypotheses that appear most promising are that individuals join their partners’ songs to form duets: (1) to avoid being usurped from a partnership, (2) to prevent their partner being usurped, (3) as a collaborative display in defence of some resource, or (4) to signal commitment to their partner. These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, and duetting is likely to have multiple roles both within and among species. However, much basic research is still required. Characteristics of duets have rarely been quantified in detail, and information about variability among species in the precision of duetting is necessary, not only to test hypotheses about function, but also to define duetting more precisely. Quantifying the relative frequencies of alternative vocal strategies (for example, remaining silent when a partner sings versus joining in to form a duet) between species and in different contexts will help to determine why partners coordinate their songs to form duets. Furthermore, social systems and sex roles in duetting species are poorly understood, yet understanding these is critical to determining the functions of avian duetting.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
£29.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Appleby BM, Yamaguchi N, Johnson PJ, MacDonald DW (1999) Sex specific territorial responses in tawny owls Strix aluco. Ibis 141:91–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong EA (1947) Bird display and behaviour. Lindsay & Drummond, London

  • Armstrong EA (1963) A study of bird song. Dover, New York

  • Arrowood PC (1988) Duetting, pair bonding and agonistic display in parakeet pairs. Behaviour 106:129–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey WJ (2003) Insect duets: underlying mechanisms and their evolution. Physiol Entomol 28:157–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baptista LF (1978) Territorial, courtship and duet songs of the Cuban grassquit (Tiaris canora). J Ornithol 119:91–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Black JM (1996) Introduction: pair bonds and partnerships. In: Black JM (ed) Partnerships in birds: the study of monogamy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 3–20

  • Black JM, Owen M (1988) Variations in pair bond and agonistic behaviors in barnacle geese on the wintering grounds. In: Weller MW (ed) Waterfowl in winter. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minn., pp 39–57

  • Bradbury JW, Vehrencamp SL (1998) Principles of animal communication. Sinauer, Sunderland, Mass.

  • Brenowitz EA, Arnold AP, Levin RN (1985) Neural correlates of female song in tropical duetting birds. Brain Res 343:104–112

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown RN, Lemon RE (1979) Structure and evolution of song form in the wrens Thryothorus sinaloa and T. felix. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 5:111–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Catchpole CK (1996) Song and female choice—good genes and big brains. Trends Ecol Evol 11:358–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng MF (1992) For whom does the female dove coo—a case for the role of vocal self-stimulation. Anim Behav 43:1035–1044

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobb NA (1897) The sheep-fluke. Agric Gaz NSW 8:470–480

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabelsteen T, McGregor PK (1996) Dynamic acoustic communication and interactive playback. In: Kroodsma DE, Miller EH (eds) Ecology and evolution of acoustic communication in birds. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y., pp 398–408

  • Davies NB (2000) Cuckoos, cowbirds and other cheats. Poyser, London

  • Diamond JM, Terborgh JW (1968) Dual singing by New Guinea birds. Auk 85:62–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Dilger WC (1953) Duetting in the crimson-breasted barbet. Condor 55:220–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Farabaugh SM (1982) The ecological and social significance of duetting. In: Kroodsma DE, Miller EH (eds) Acoustic communication in birds, vol 2. Academic, New York, pp 85–124

  • Farabaugh SM (1983) A comparative study of duet song in tropical Thryothorus wrens. PhD thesis, University of Maryland, Baltimore

  • Fleischer RC, Tarr CL, Morton ES, Sangmeister A, Derrickson KC (1997) Mating system of the dusky antbird, a tropical passerine, as assessed by DNA fingerprinting. Condor 99:512–514

    Google Scholar 

  • Galeotti P, Pavan G (1993) Differential responses of territorial tawny owls Strix aluco to the hooting of neighbours and strangers. Ibis 135:300–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Geissmann T (1999) Duet songs of the siamang, Hylobates syndactylus: II. Testing the pair-bonding hypothesis during a partner exchange. Behaviour 136:1005–1039

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grafe TU, Bitz JH (2003) The functions of duetting in the tropical boubou (Laniarius aethiopicus): experimental evidence for territorial defence and mutual mate-guarding. Anim Behav (in press)

  • Grafe TU, Bitz JH, Wink M (2003) Song repertoire and duetting behaviour of the tropical boubou (Laniarius aethiopicus): implications for the functions of duetting. Anim Behav (in press)

  • Greenfield MD (1994) Cooperation and conflict in the evolution of signal interactions. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 25:97–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimes L (1965) Antiphonal singing in Laniarius barbarus and the auditory reaction time. Ibis 107:101–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall ML (1999) The importance of pair duration and biparental care to reproductive success in the monogamous Australian magpie-lark. Aust J Zool 47:439–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall ML (2000) The function of duetting in magpie-larks: conflict, cooperation, or commitment? Anim Behav 60:667–677

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hall ML (2001) Duetting and parental care in Australian magpie-larks. PhD thesis, Australian National University, Canberra

  • Hall ML, Magrath RD (2000) Duetting and mate-guarding in Australian magpie-larks (Grallina cyanoleuca). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 47:180–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcus JL (1977) The functions of vocal duetting in some African birds. Z Tierpsychol 43:23–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Helversen D von (1980) Structure and function of antiphonal duets. Proc Int Ornithol Congr Berl 17:682–688

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooker T, Hooker BI (1969) Duetting. In: Hinde RA (ed) Bird vocalisations. Cambridge University Press, London, pp 185–205

  • Hultsch H, Todt D (1984) Spatial proximity between allies: a territorial signal tested in the monogamous duet singer Cossypha heuglini. Behaviour 91:286–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Komdeur J, Kraaijeveld-Smit F, Kraaijeveld K, Edelaar P (1999) Explicit experimental evidence for the role of mate guarding in minimizing loss of paternity in the Seychelles warbler. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 266:2075–2081

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraaijeveld K, Mulder RA (2002) The function of triumph ceremonies in the black swan. Behaviour 139:45–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krebs JR, Davies NB (1993) An introduction to behavioural ecology, 3rd edn. Blackwell, Oxford

  • Kroodsma DE (1976) Reproductive development in a female songbird: differential stimulation by quality of male song. Science 192:574–575

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunkel P (1974) Mating systems of tropical birds: the effects of weakness or absence of external reproduction-timing factors with special reference to prolonged pair bonds. Z Tierpsychol 34:265–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamprecht J, Kaiser A, Peters A, Kirchgessner C (1985) Distance call duets in bar-headed geese (Anser indicus): co-operation through visual relief of the partner? Z Tierpsychol 70:211–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Langmore NE (1998) Functions of duet and solo songs of female birds. Trends Ecol Evol 13:136–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langmore NE (2002) Vocal duetting: definitions, discoveries and directions. Trends Ecol Evol 17:451–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawless SG, Ritchison G, Klatt PH, Westneat DF (1997) The mating strategies of Eastern screech-owls—a genetic analysis. Condor 99:213–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin RN (1988) The adaptive significance of antiphonal song in the bay wren, Thryothorus nigricapillus. PhD thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

  • Levin RN (1996a) Song behaviour and reproductive strategies in a duetting wren, Thryothorus nigricapillus. I. Removal experiments. Anim Behav 52:1093–1106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin RN (1996b) Song behaviour and reproductive strategies in a duetting wren, Thryothorus nigricapillus. II. Playback experiments. Anim Behav 52:1107–1117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis AD (1982) Form and function of the duetting of the yellow-breasted apalis Apalis flavida. Scopus 6:95–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Malacarne G, Cucco M, Camanni S (1991) Coordinated visual displays and vocal duetting in different ecological situations among Western Palearctic non-passerine birds. Ethol Ecol Evol 3:207–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann NI, Marshall-Ball L, Slater PJB (2003) The complex song duet of the plain wren. Condor 105:672–682

    Google Scholar 

  • Margoliash D (1997) Functional organization of forebrain pathways for song production and perception. J Neurobiol 33:671–693

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maynard Smith J, Harper DGC (1995) Animal signals—models and terminology. J Theor Biol 177:305–311

    Google Scholar 

  • McComb K, Packer C, Pusey A (1994) Roaring and numerical assessment in contests between groups of female lions, Panthera leo. Anim Behav 47:379–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGregor PK (1992) Quantifying responses to playback: one, many, or composite multivariate measures? In: McGregor PK (ed) Playback and studies of animal communication, vol 228. Plenum, New York, pp 79–96

  • Morton ES (1980) The ecological background for the evolution of vocal sounds used at close range. In: Nohring R (ed) Acta XVII Congr Int Ornithol. Verlag Deutsche Ornithol.-Gesellschaft, Berlin, pp 737–741

  • Morton ES (1996) A comparison of vocal behavior among tropical and temperate passerine birds. In: Kroodsma DE, Miller EH (eds) Ecology and evolution of acoustic communication in birds. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y., pp 258–268

  • Morton ES, Derrickson KC (1996) Song ranging by the dusky antbird, Cercomacra tyrannina—ranging without song learning. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 39:195–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morton ES, Derrickson KC, Stutchbury BJM (2000) Territory switching behavior in a sedentary tropical passerine, the dusky antbird (Cercomacra tyrannina). Behav Ecol 11:648–653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulder RA, Bishop H, Cooper M, Dennis S, Koetsveld M, Marshall J, Saunders BL, Langmore NE (2003) Alternate functions for duet and solo songs in magpie-larks, Grallina cyanoleuca. Aust J Zool 51:25–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nowicki S, Peters S, Podos J (1998) Song learning, early nutrition and sexual selection in songbirds. Am Zool 38:179–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne RB (1971) Duetting and chorus singing in African birds. Ostrich [Suppl] 9:125–146

  • Payne RB, Skinner NJ (1970) Temporal patterns of duetting in African barbets. Ibis 112:173–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Power DM (1966) Antiphonal duetting and evidence for auditory reaction time in the orange-chinned parakeet. Auk 83:314–319

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyer H-U, Schmidl D (1988) Helpers have little to laugh about: group structure and vocalisation in the laughing kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae. Emu 88:150–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Riebel K (2003) The ‘mute’ sex revisited: vocal production and perception learning in female songbirds. Adv Stud Behav 33 (in press)

  • Roberts G, Sherratt TN (1998) Development of cooperative relationships through increasing investment. Nature 394:175–179

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson BC, Degnan SM, Kikkawa J, Moritz CC (2001) Genetic monogamy in the absence of paternity guards: the Capricorn silvereye, Zosterops lateralis chlorocephalus, on Heron Island. Behav Ecol 12:666–673

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson A (1949) The biological significance of bird song in Australia. Emu 48:291–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwabl H, Sonnenschein E (1992) Antiphonal duetting and sex hormones in the tropical bush shrike Laniarius funebris. Horm Behav 26:295–307

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seddon N (2002) The structure, context and possible functions of solos, duets and choruses in the subdesert mesite (Monias benschi). Behaviour 139:645–676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seddon N, Butchart SHM, Odling-Smee L (2002) Duetting in the subdesert mesite Monias benschi: evidence for acoustic mate defence? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 52:7–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seibt U, Wickler W (1977) Duettieren als Revier-Anzeige bei Vogeln. Z Tierpsychol 43:180–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Seibt U, Wickler W, Kleindienst HU, Sonnenschein E (2002) Structure, geography and origin of dialects in the traditive song of the forest weaver Ploceus bicolor sclateri in Natal, S. Africa. Behaviour 139:1237–1265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serpell JA (1981) Duetting in birds and primates: a question of function. Anim Behav 29:963–965

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherratt TN, Roberts G (2002) The stability of cooperation involving variable investment. J Theor Biol 215:47–56

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Short LL, Horne JFM (1983) A review of duetting, sociality and speciation in some African barbets (Capitonidae). Condor 85:323–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Sibley CG, Monroe BJ (1990) Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.

  • Slater PJB, Gil D, Barlow CR, Graves JA (2002) Male-led duets in the moho, Hypergerus atriceps, and yellow-crowned gonolek, Laniarius barbarus. Ostrich 73:49–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith WJ (1994) Animal duets: forcing a mate to be attentive. J Theor Biol 166:221–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow DW (1977) Duetting and other synchronised displays of the blue-backed manakins, Chiroxiphia spp. In: Stonehouse B, Perrins CM (eds) Evolutionary ecology. Macmillan, London, pp 239–251

  • Sonnenschein E, Reyer HU (1983) Mate-guarding and other functions of antiphonal duets in the slate-coloured boubou (Laniarius funebris). Z Tierpsychol 63:112–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Stacey PB, Koenig WD (1990) Cooperative breeding in birds: long-term studies of ecology and behavior. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiles FG, Skutch AF (1989) A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y.

  • Stokes AW, Williams HW (1968) Antiphonal calling in quail. Auk 85:83–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe WH (1963) Antiphonal singing in birds as evidence for avian auditory reaction time. Nature 197:774–776

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe WH (1972) Duetting and antiphonal song in birds: its extent and significance. Behaviour [Suppl] 18:1–197

  • Tinbergen N (1963) On aims and methods of ethology. Z Tierpsychol 20:410–433

    Google Scholar 

  • Tingay SR (1974) Antiphonal song in the magpie-lark. Emu 74:11–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Todt D (1975) Effect of territorial conditions on the maintenance of pair contact in duetting birds. Experientia 31:648–649

    Google Scholar 

  • Todt D, Hultch H, Duvall FP (1981) Behavioural significance and social function of vocal and non-vocal displays in the monogamous duet-singer Cossypha heuglini H. Zool Beitr 27:421–448

    Google Scholar 

  • Todt D, Hultsch H (1982) Impairment of vocal signal exchange in the monogamous duet-singer Cossypha heuglini (Turdidae): effects on pair bond maintenance. Z Tierpsychol 60:265–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Todt D, Naguib M (2000) Vocal interactions in birds: The use of song as a model in communication. Adv Stud Behav 29:247–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Trainer JM, McDonald DB (1995) Singing performance, frequency matching and courtship success of long-tailed manakins (Chiroxiphia linearis). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 37:249–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trainer JM, McDonald DB, Learn WA (2002) The development of coordinated singing in cooperatively displaying long-tailed manakins. Behav Ecol 13:65–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vehrencamp SL (2001) Is song-type matching a conventional signal of aggressive intentions? Proc R Soc London B 268:1637–1642

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vencl F, Soucek B (1976) Structure and control of duet singing in white-crested laughing thrush, (Garrulax leucolophus). Behaviour 57:206–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Wachtmeister CA (2001) Display in monogamous pairs: a review of empirical data and evolutionary explanations. Anim Behav 61:861–868

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson J (2002) Starting small and commitment. Games Econ Behav 38:176–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson M (1969) Significance of antiphonal song in the Eastern whipbird, Psophodes olivaceus. Behaviour 35:157–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitford PC (1996) Temporal alteration and coordination of calls by paired Canada geese in duetted calling of aggression, territorial and triumph behavior. Passenger Pigeon 58:249–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittingham LA, Kirkconnell A, Ratcliffe LM (1992) Differences in song and sexual dimorphism between Cuban and North American red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). Auk 109:928–933

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittingham LA, Kirkconnell A, Ratcliffe LM (1996) Breeding behavior, social organization and morphology of red-shouldered (Agelaius assimilis) and tawny-shouldered (A. humeralis) blackbirds. Condor 98:832–836

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittingham LA, Kirkconnell A, Ratcliffe LM (1997) The context and function of duet and solo songs in the red-shouldered blackbird. Wilson Bull 109:279–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickler W (1976) Duetting songs in birds: biological significance of stationary and non-stationary processes. J Theor Biol 61:493–497

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickler W (1980) Vocal duetting and the pair bond. I. Coyness and partner commitment. A hypothesis. Z Tierpsychol 52:201–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickler W, Seibt U (1980) Vocal duetting and the pair bond. II. Unisono duetting in the African forest weaver, Symplectes bicolor. Z Tierpsychol 52:217–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickler W, Seibt U (1982) Song splitting in the evolution of duetting. Z Tierpsychol 59:127–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickler W, Sonnenschein E (1989) Ontogeny of song in captive duet-singing slate coloured boubous (Laniarius funebris). A study in birdsong epigenesis. Behaviour 111:220–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiley RH, Wiley MS (1977) Recognition of neighbours’ duets by stripe-backed wrens Campylorhynchus nuchalis. Behaviour 62:10–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguchi A (1998) Can a sexually dimorphic learned birdsong be used for male–female recognition? Behaviour 135:833–844

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Rob Magrath, Naomi Langmore, Jack Bradbury, Sandra Vehrencamp, and Anya Illes for stimulating discussion of ideas and comments that improved the manuscript. Peter Slater, Lorraine Marshall-Ball, Nathalie Seddon and an anonymous reviewer also made helpful comments on the manuscript. Thanks also to the participants of the Duetting Workshop at the International Society of Behavioral Ecology (ISBE) 2002 meeting in Montreal for discussion of current research and ideas. Particular thanks to David Logue, Nigel Mann, Herman Mays, Amy Rogers, Mike Sawyer and Tim Wright who shared ideas, and in some cases unpublished data, with me. I wrote this review as a Visiting Fellow at the School of Botany and Zoology at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Michelle L. Hall

    Present address: Bioacoustics, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Michelle L. Hall

Authors
  1. Michelle L. Hall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle L. Hall.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Cockburn

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hall, M.L. A review of hypotheses for the functions of avian duetting. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 55, 415–430 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0741-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0741-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation