Abstract
Interactive communication occurs when two or more individuals reciprocally exchange signals. It is widespread and common in humans, non-human animals, and even machines. Territorial songbirds participate in a form of interactive communication known as “countersinging.” This chapter reviews research on this model system, with a focus on the last 20 years. It conceptualizes countersinging as a collective behavior that emerges when individuals interact according to rules. I organize research on dyadic countersinging by acoustic domain (time and pattern) and causation (behavioral mechanism, neuro-endocrine mechanism, ontogeny, evolution, and function). Among the topics covered are song overlapping, song rate, variation in song structure, song type switching, soft song, vocal performance, song type matching, countersinging in communication networks, the dawn chorus, and eavesdropping. The chapter ends with a discussion of understudied facets of avian countersinging and recommendations for future research. As the best-studied system of interactive communication in non-human animals, avian countersinging is a valuable model for the evolution of interactive communication.
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