Detection of auditory sinusoids of fixed and uncertain frequency by budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) and zebra finches (Poephila guttata).

Three budgerigars and three zebra finches were tested for their ability to detect sinusoidal stimuli in the presence of broadband noise. Masked thresholds for 1, 2, and 4 KHz pure tones were measured with a fixed frequency condition, in which only one test frequency was presented in a session, and with an uncertain frequency condition, in which three signal frequencies were presented in random order in one session. The critical signal/noise ratios obtained in the fixed frequency condition were similar to those reported in a previous study (Okanoya and Dooling, 1987) for both species. When tested in the uncertain frequency condition, critical ratios for zebra finches increased for 1.5 dB at 1 KHz signal but remained unchanged 2 and 4 kHz. The critical ratios for budgerigars showed no difference at any frequency in the uncertain frequency condition. These results suggest that (1) budgerigars and zebra finches are similar in the degree to which attention factors are involved in the detection of signals in noise, and (2) the unusual shape of the budgerigar critical ratio function is not the result of central attentional processes.