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Published on: November 26, 2012
Open-ended song learning in a hummingbird
Marcelo Araya-Salas1, Timothy Wright
1Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, , Las Cruces, NM, USA.
Biology Letters
|September 27, 2013
Summary
Hummingbirds exhibit open-ended vocal learning, challenging the notion of a limited sensitive period for song acquisition. This discovery expands our understanding of vocal learning in birds beyond songbirds and parrots.
Area of Science:
- Ornithology
- Animal Behavior
- Bioacoustics
Background:
- Vocal learning in birds is generally confined to a sensitive period early in life.
- Exceptions include songbirds and parrots, which exhibit more flexible learning capabilities.
- Hummingbirds represent a third avian group where vocal learning has been investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence and characteristics of open-ended vocal learning in the long-billed hermit hummingbird (Phaethornis longirostris).
- To determine if song learning in this species extends beyond an initial sensitive period.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of vocalizations at four leks over a four-year period.
- Recording and analysis of individual song repertoires and song-type changes.
- Age estimation for birds exhibiting song replacement.
Main Results:
- 18% of recorded long-billed hermit hummingbirds (9 out of 49) changed their song-type between recordings.
- Three individuals replaced song-types more than once.
- Song replacement occurred between 186 and 547 days of age, after initial song crystallization.
Conclusions:
- Song-type replacement in long-billed hermit hummingbirds is distinct from early sensitive learning periods.
- Vocal learning may extend throughout the lifespan in this species, potentially due to high mortality rates.
- This finding suggests convergent evolution of open-ended vocal learning in hummingbirds, mirroring patterns in songbirds and parrots.
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