This research examined how song is used to transmit information on individual identity in American redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla). Specifically, it attempted to determine whether American redstarts (1) discriminate between neighbors and strangers on the basis of their respective songs, and (2) recognize individuals by their distinctive voice characteristics. I tested the latter by exposing subjects to identical song types sung by different birds. Each subject's behavior was evaluated according to a variety of response variables. In all trials, for all response variables, subjects responded highly but equally to each of the songs played. A post-hoc analysis revealed that the order in which treatment songs were presented affected the birds' responses. For four of five response variables, subjects successfully distinguished between the songs of neighbors and strangers when played the fourth song in the trial. Thus, it would appear that in redstarts this type of discrimination may be observed only after an initial song-exposure period.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.27513 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Couroux, Christina. |
| Contributors | Lemon, Robert E. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Biology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001617607, proquestno: MQ37111, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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