Skip Navigation


Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on November 10, 2006
Behavioral Ecology 2007 18(1):182-188; doi:10.1093/beheco/arl070
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
18/1/182    most recent
arl070v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (4)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rogers, A. C.
Right arrow Articles by Mulder, R. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Rogers, A. C.
Right arrow Articles by Mulder, R. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Function of pair duets in the eastern whipbird: cooperative defense or sexual conflict?

Amy C. Rogersa, Naomi E. Langmoreb and Raoul A. Muldera

a Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia b School of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University, Canberra, 0200, Australia

Address correspondence to R.A. Mulder. E-mail: r.mulder{at}unimelb.edu.au.


  Abstract

Paired male and female eastern whipbirds, Psophodes olivaceus, sing precisely coordinated, male-led duets. Four broad explanations have been proposed for the function of duets: 1) cooperative resource defense, 2) prevention of partner usurpation, 3) defense of an individual's own position within the partnership, or 4) mate identification and localization. These 4 hypotheses make different predictions about how male and female residents should respond to simulated intrusion by other pairs or individuals. We compared the behavioral and vocal responses of 20 pairs of eastern whipbirds to simulated territorial intrusions by: 1) a solitary singing male, 2) a solitary singing female, and 3) a duetting pair. Males and females did not coordinate their approach to the playback speaker and showed sex-specific responses to playback. Males did not respond differently to duetting versus solo singing intruders. By contrast, females approached more closely during solo female song than during solo male song or duet playback. Females also produced specific vocalizations only in response to duet and solo female playback. Both sexes approached the speaker more closely and quickly during playback of same-sex solo songs than opposite-sex solo songs. Finally, females answered more of their mate's songs during simulated intrusion by a lone female than during simulated intrusion by a lone male. Our results suggest that duets in this species primarily function to allow females to defend their exclusive position in a partnership. Mate defense by females is unusual in birds but may be promoted in eastern whipbirds by a female-biased sex ratio and the need for exclusive access to male care. Thus, duets result from independent and conflicting strategies of mate and territory defense in males and females.

Key words: antiphonal duet, eastern whipbird, sexual conflict.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.