Chapter 8: Part 2

Question 1

Syrinx

Answer 1

• The vocal sound‐producing organ in birds
• A cartilaginous expansion covered by muscles, the syrinx lies at the lower end of the trachea where it branches into two bronchi before entering the lungs
• 3 types: tracheal, bronchial, and tracheobronchial

Question 2

tracheal syrinx

Answer 2

• thick syringeal muscle surrounding the sound producing membrane (throat area)
• splits into two even bronchus

Question 3

Bronchial syrnix

Answer 3

• only found in the Oilbird!!
• membranes of throat go past the trachea into the bronchi
• thinner muscle surrounding
• splits into two pathways earlier on, pinch in the middle of them

Question 4

tracheobronchial syrnix

Answer 4

• most common type (in songbirds)
• thick syrinx muscle
• pessulus in middle of end of trachea, before splitting into two even bronchi

Question 5

What is the function of the external and internal labia of the tracheobronchial syrinx?

Answer 5

• sound producing membranes
• air going out causes a vibration in trachea

Question 6

Understand how the trachea, larynx, and hyoid apparatus influence sound production

Question 7

Song learning

Answer 7

• Avian vocalizations can be inherited, learned, or invented
• Birds in a few groups (songbirds, parrots, hummingbirds) learn during vocal development

Question 8

Understand how birds reared in isolation may or may not develop a normal song

Answer 8

• example: Gray Catbird
• only vocalizations in lab are the ones birds produce, no males around
• vary greatly from wild-type/normal song

Question 9

Understand how birds reared in isolation may or may not develop a normal song: second!

Answer 9

• example: White-crowned sparrow
• wildtype/normal call has various notes, repeated bits
• isolated bird has one note song it repeates in various cuts

Question 10

Sensory acquisition phase

Answer 10

• auditory experiences with external models or tutors refine the innate template during a physiologically based sensitive period
• can be affected by outside sources

Question 11

Sensorimotor phase

Answer 11

• practice and feedback mold initial subsong elements into plastic song, which is then refined into crystallized song by matching components to the template produced in the first phase
• “practice makes perfect” stage

Question 12

Name the typical stages of song learning in oscine passerines

Answer 12

• Critical learning period
   Silent period
   Subsong period
   Adult song

example: Bewick’s wren

Question 13

Critical learning period

Answer 13

• The early period during which information is stored for use in later stages of learning
• In most species, the critical learning stage lasts less than a year - sometimes much less
• In the sensory acquisition phase

Question 14

Silent period

Answer 14

• The long period (as long as eight months) in which syllables learned during the early critical learning period are stored without practice or rehearsal

Question 15

Subsong period

Answer 15

• Practice period analogous to infant babbling
• Bridges the gap between the perceptual and sensorimotor stages of vocal learning
• A period of practice without communication; perhaps subsong is a form of vocal play
• Sensorimotor phase

Question 16

Describe how males adapt to local songs

Answer 16

• I believe example is the Indigo Bunting?
• match the song details of an immediate territorial neighbor
• perpetuates the local neighborhood of songs
• develops type of dialect overtime

Question 17

Song adaptation of Song Sparrow

Answer 17

• After establishing a territory, they learn some of the common neighborhood song types, thus ensuring that they share some song types with all or most of their territorial neighbors.
• various individuals can have various levels and ranges of bird song abilities

Question 18

Marsh wrens vs. Sedge wrens

Answer 18

• marsh wrens: Stable communities, Shared identical songs
• sedge wrens: Nomadic, unpredictable in their breeding locations; Neighboring males are often strangers; Lots of improvisation

Question 19

Suboscine Vocal Development

Answer 19

• Suborder Tyranni, suboscine birds
• About a thousand suboscine species reside in the New World (antbirds, antpittas, woodcreepers, cotingas, and flycatchers)
• A handful of suboscine groups (broadbills, pittas) live in the Old World

Question 20

Alder Flycatcher vs. Willow Flycatcher: Suboscine development

Answer 20

• Essentially identical in appearance
• Only reliable way to identify them in the field is by their songs and calls

Question 21

Experiment of Alder and Willow Flycatchers

Answer 21

• Trained with opposite songs
• Unlike songbirds, these young flycatchers developed perfectly normal songs of their own species
• The young flycatchers did not imitate the “wrong” songs they heard
• Song development of most suboscines may resemble that of these flycatchers

Question 22

three wattled bellbird

Answer 22

• Individuals alter their songs from year to year, with all the birds in an area making the same change in concert

Question 23

Vocal development in non-passerines

Answer 23

• Psittacids
• ability to imitate human speech
• Wild birds also imitate the vocalizations of other individuals of their species

Question 24

Hummingbird songs

Answer 24

• Anna’s hummingbirds: isolated birds develop highly abnormal songs
• Sparkling Violetear: songs of territorial neighbors are very similar