Female Blue Tit Sings in the Face of Danger

Summary: Female blue tits sing in the presence of a predator, new research reveals.

Source: University of Veterinary Medicine.

Until now, the singing behaviour of songbirds had been mainly associated with competitive behaviour and the search for a partner. Moreover, males had long been considered to be the more active singer. Females were compared to the behaviour of the males and were seen as relatively “lazy” with regard to singing.

These assumptions had also been applied to one of the most prominent local songbirds, namely, the blue tit. But female blue tits, like males, also display a variety of vocal patterns. This suggests that vocalization is not limited exclusively to courtship or competition.

When female blue tits sing

Herbert Hoi and Katharina Mahr of the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology at Vetmeduni Vienna have demonstrated for the first time that female blue tits sing in the presence of a predator.

Vocalization did not serve as an alarm, however, nor was it limited to females. The researchers used stuffed dummies of two predatory types in order to provoke a reaction from the birds. “We presented the nest of blue tits either with a stuffed sparrow hawk, a bird of prey, or an Aesculapian snake and analysed the reactions mainly of female blue tits. We already knew that songbird males sometimes respond to threats by singing,” said Hoi.

Blue tits sing for themselves when their life is in danger

The team from Vetmeduni Vienna, together with Carlo Seifert of the University of South Bohemia, for the first time documented vocalizations of female songbirds in danger situations. Their song strongly resembled that of the males also present in the simulated predation event. Both sexes, however, reacted only to the threat from the bird of prey and not the snake. The sparrow hawk is considered to be a danger to adults, while the snake is a threat to nestlings that can be more easily driven from the nest.

It is interesting that the blue tits react to the threat by singing. One would assume that singing attracts more attention. “The animals may be indicating a heightened ability to escape. They show the predator that they have seen it and can flee at any time”, Hoi says.

Song could also be a sign of physiological stress or encouragement

Hoi believes there could be another, for people easily understandable, explanation. The presence of a predator is very stressful. The singing behaviour could therefore simply be an endocrinological response of the body or, to quote Konrad Lorenz, a “displacement activity”.

Image shows a blue tit.
Approaching predators cause the female blue tit to sing and not to fall quiet. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Katharina Mahr/Vetmeduni Vienna.

The researchers were able to exclude the possibility that the females were sending a distress call. In several cases, the male was present during the event. And both would then sing together. The researchers see the joint singing as a way for the pair to encourage each other and to strengthen the pair bond.

Need for more research into singing behaviour

The scientists still see the need for future research in order to better understand the singing behaviour of songbirds. “Our work confirms the assumption that females use their singing in more ways than just choosing their partner or defending their territory. But more studies will be needed in order to better interpret the different vocalization patterns,” Hoi believes.

About this neuroscience research article

Source: Kevin Fryling – University of Veterinary Medicine
Image Source: This NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Katharina Mahr/Vetmeduni Vienna.
Original Research: Full open access research for “Female and male Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) sing in response to experimental predator exposition” by Katharina Mahr, Carlo L. Seifert, and Herbert Hoi in Journal of Ornithology. Published online April 18 2016 doi:10.1007/s10336-016-1345-3

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]University of Veterinary Medicine. “Female Blue Tit Sings in the Face of Danger.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 24 June 2016.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/danger-bird-song-4557/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]University of Veterinary Medicine. (2016, June 24). Female Blue Tit Sings in the Face of Danger. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved June 24, 2016 from https://neurosciencenews.com/danger-bird-song-4557/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]University of Veterinary Medicine. “Female Blue Tit Sings in the Face of Danger.” https://neurosciencenews.com/danger-bird-song-4557/ (accessed June 24, 2016).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

Female and male Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) sing in response to experimental predator exposition

Female song is recognized to serve a similar function as male song and underlies sexual selection processes; yet certain patterns of the expression of female singing behaviour are not in line with traditional explanations known from male songbirds. In particular, in northern hemisphere songbirds, female singing behaviour is regarded to occur only rarely, and; therefore, studies investigating it are sparse. Within the framework of an experimental study on nest defence behaviour, we observed female singing in a common European passerine, namely, the Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). Females expressed singing behaviour when a dummy of a Sparrow Hawk was exposed to the nest, raising the idea that song might be multifunctional in this species.

“Female and male Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) sing in response to experimental predator exposition” by Katharina Mahr, Carlo L. Seifert, and Herbert Hoi in Journal of Ornithology. Published online April 18 2016 doi:10.1007/s10336-016-1345-3

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