Effect of auditory stimuli on conditioned vocal behavior of budgerigars

The budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) is a highly social species and serves as an excellent model of vocal learning and production. This species can be trained to vocalize as a conditioned response using an operant conditioning paradigm. In addition, the birds can be trained to produce different vocalizations in response to different visual signals. Budgerigars may be fairly unique in the capability for vocal production under operant control. Whether acoustic features of the bird's natural social milieu can influence this conditioned vocal output is uncertain. The present study asked whether conditioned vocal behavior in budgerigars can be influenced by hearing vocalizations of other birds. The results show that birds vocalizing under operant control produced louder calls in the presence of vocalizations from other birds, than in pure tones or in quiet. The acoustic variation of the conditioned vocalization also increased when it is in the context of hearing other . These results reveal a functional connection between the vocal production under operant control and the perceptual mechanisms subserving vocal production in the budgerigars' natural social milieu.