Vignal Clémentine, Mathevon Nicolas, Mottin Stéphane
Université Jean Monnet, Laboratoire Ecologie & Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielles, Saint-Etienne Cedex 02, France.
Behav Processes. 2008 Feb;77(2):191-8. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2007.09.003. Epub 2007 Sep 29.
Zebra finches are monogamous birds living in large assemblies, which represent a source of confusion for recognition between mates. Because the members of a pair use distance calls to remain in contact, call-based mate recognition is highly probable in this species. Whereas it had been previously demonstrated in males [Vignal, C., Mathevon, N., Mottin, S., 2004. Audience drives male songbird response to mate's voice. Nature 430, 448-451], call-based mate recognition remained to be shown in females. By analysing the acoustic structure of male calls, we investigated the existence of an individual signature and identified the involved acoustic cues. We tested to see if females can identify their mates on the basis of their calls alone, and performed preliminary experiments using modified signals to investigate the acoustic basis of this recognition. Playback tests carried on six individuals showed that a female zebra finch is able to perform the call-based recognition of its mate. Our experiments suggested that the female uses both the energy spectrum and the frequency modulation of the male signal. More experiments are now needed to decipher precisely which acoustic cues are used by females for recognition.
斑胸草雀是生活在大群体中的单配偶制鸟类，群体是配偶之间识别的一个混淆来源。由于配偶双方通过距离叫声保持联系，基于叫声的配偶识别在该物种中很有可能存在。此前已在雄性斑胸草雀中得到证实[维尼亚尔，C.，马泰冯，N.，莫廷，S.，2004年。观众促使雄性鸣禽对配偶声音做出反应。《自然》430卷，第448 - 451页]，但基于叫声的配偶识别在雌性中仍有待证实。通过分析雄性叫声的声学结构，我们研究了个体特征的存在并确定了相关的声学线索。我们测试雌性是否仅能根据叫声识别配偶，并使用修改后的信号进行初步实验以研究这种识别的声学基础。对六只个体进行的回放测试表明，雌性斑胸草雀能够基于叫声识别其配偶。我们的实验表明，雌性利用了雄性信号的能谱和频率调制。现在需要更多实验来精确解读雌性用于识别的具体声学线索。
