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The function and variability of song in two interacting nightingale species
Souriau, Abel ; Petrusková, Tereza (advisor) ; Kipper, Silke (referee) ; Linhart, Pavel (referee)
- ABSTRACT - The melodious and complex song of nightingales is a well-established model in studies focussing on the development and function of birdsong. Moreover, two sister species: the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia) and the common nightingale (L. megarhynchos), meet in a recent secondary contact zone in Central Europe, in which their close ecological preference result in competitive interactions and interspecific hybridization. In sympatry, thrush nightingale males often replace part or all of their song repertoires with the songs of the common nightingale, a phenomenon called "mixed singing", while the opposite tendency has not been observed. Understanding the reasons behind the occurrence of thrush nightingale mixed singing, as well as exploring the similarities and difference in song structure between the two species, were the main aims of this thesis. In the first chapter, we tested the role of mixed singing on breeding common nightingale males and revealed its possible function in mediating territorial conflicts. Such advantage might be adaptive as it could help balance the potential costs of heterospecific song copying, and therefore help maintain the asymmetric song convergence between those species. The second chapter aims to explore further the function of thrush nightingale song...
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The function and variability of song in two interacting nightingale species
Souriau, Abel ; Petrusková, Tereza (advisor) ; Kipper, Silke (referee) ; Linhart, Pavel (referee)
- ABSTRACT - The melodious and complex song of nightingales is a well-established model in studies focussing on the development and function of birdsong. Moreover, two sister species: the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia) and the common nightingale (L. megarhynchos), meet in a recent secondary contact zone in Central Europe, in which their close ecological preference result in competitive interactions and interspecific hybridization. In sympatry, thrush nightingale males often replace part or all of their song repertoires with the songs of the common nightingale, a phenomenon called "mixed singing", while the opposite tendency has not been observed. Understanding the reasons behind the occurrence of thrush nightingale mixed singing, as well as exploring the similarities and difference in song structure between the two species, were the main aims of this thesis. In the first chapter, we tested the role of mixed singing on breeding common nightingale males and revealed its possible function in mediating territorial conflicts. Such advantage might be adaptive as it could help balance the potential costs of heterospecific song copying, and therefore help maintain the asymmetric song convergence between those species. The second chapter aims to explore further the function of thrush nightingale song...
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