Abstract
The neural processes of bird song and song development have become a model for research relevant to human acquisition of language, but in fact, very few avian species have been tested for lateralization of the way in which their audio-vocal system is engaged in perception, motor output and cognition. Moreover, the models that have been developed have been premised on birds with strong vocal dimorphism, with a tendency to species with complex social and/or monomorphic song systems. The Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) is an excellent model for the study of communication and vocal plasticity with a sophisticated behavioural repertoire, and some of its expression depends on functional asymmetry. This paper summarizes research on vocal mechanisms and presents field-work results of behavior in the Australian magpie. For the first time, evidence is presented and discussed about lateralized behaviour in one of the foremost songbirds in response to specific and specialized auditory and visual experiences under natural conditions. It presents the first example of auditory lateralization evident in the birds’ natural environment by describing an extractive foraging event that has not been described previously in any avian species. It also discusses the first example of auditory behavioral asymmetry in a songbird tested under natural conditions.
Highlights
Field studies of behavioural laterality in birds are still relatively rare, but the few undertaken so far have shown that laterality may play a role in vigilance behaviour [1,2], in predation and sexual behaviour [3,4] and even in tool manufacture, as shown in the New Caledonian crow, Corvus moneduloides [5]
This paper reports new data and summarizes previous research obtained both in the laboratory and in the field concerned with auditory and visual hemispheric specialization in the Australian magpie, a species native to Australia
Discussion moving the beak to the right and up so that the left ear is closer to the ground. This is the first example of auditory lateralization in the field describing an extractive foraging event that has not been described in any avian species
Summary
Field studies of behavioural laterality in birds are still relatively rare, but the few undertaken so far have shown that laterality may play a role in vigilance behaviour [1,2], in predation and sexual behaviour [3,4] and even in tool manufacture, as shown in the New Caledonian crow, Corvus moneduloides [5]. This paper will explore whether such lateralities, as shown in the visual behavior of many vertebrate species [18], may be present in auditory abilities and their behavioral expressions in birds. Very few field studies have shown lateralization of auditory processing in birds. Floyd and Woodland [138] hypothesized that magpies can forage for scarab larvae purely by listening to the chewing sounds they make in the soil. These sounds are so faint that the experimenters were unable to hear what the magpies heard under the same field conditions. The American robin, Turdus migratorius, was shown to use visual surface cues (worm casts) for locating earthworms [140]
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