In birds, singing behaviours play a critical role in mating and territory defence.
In birds, singing behaviours play a critical role in mating and territory defence.
Although birdsong can signal individual quality and personality, very few studies have explored the relationship between individual personality and song complexity, and none has investigated this in females, say Flinders University animal behaviour experts.
They have examined the relationships between song complexity and two personality traits (exploration and aggressiveness) in wild superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus), a species in which both sexes learn to produce complex songs.
“Regardless of their sex or life stage, individuals that were more exploratory had more element types per song, which may be explained by the possibility that more exploratory birds approach and learn from a wider variety of tutors compared to less exploratory birds,” says senior lecturer Dr Diane Colombelli-Négrel, from the College of Science and Engineering BirdLab at Flinders University.
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