Abstract
In the process of mate selection by female songbirds, male suitors advertise their quality through reproductive displays in which song plays an important role. Females evaluate the quality of each signal and the associated male, and the results of that evaluation guide expression of selective courtship displays. Some studies reveal broad agreement among females in their preferences for specific signal characteristics, indicating that those features are especially salient in female mate choice. Other studies reveal that females differ in their preference for specific characteristics, indicating that in those cases female evaluation of signal quality is influenced by factors other than simply the physical properties of the signal. Thus, both the physical properties of male signals and specific traits of female signal evaluation can impact female mate choice. Here, we characterized the mate preferences of female Bengalese finches. We found that calls and copulation solicitation displays are equally reliable indicators of female preference. In response to songs from an array of males, each female expressed an individual-specific song preference, and those preferences were consistent across tests spanning many months. Across a population of females, songs of some males were more commonly preferred than others, and females preferred female-directed songs more than undirected songs, suggesting that some song features are broadly attractive. Preferences were indistinguishable for females that did or did not have social experience with the singers, indicating that female preference is strongly directed by song features rather than experiences associated with the singer. Analysis of song properties revealed several candidate parameters that may influence female evaluation. In an initial investigation of those parameters, females could be very selective for one song feature yet not selective for another. Therefore, multiple song parameters are evaluated independently. Together these findings reveal the nature of signal evaluation and mate choice in this species.
Highlights
In the context of mate selection by female songbirds, male suitors seek to attract female mates through their song performances and other signals such as plumage or reproductive displays
In Phase 1 of this study, we address the hypothesis that female Bengalese finches (BFs) mate choice is evident in the expression of copulation solicitation displays and in the number of calls that the female performs during exposure to song stimuli
We used calls to measure mate preference in all subsequent experiments. In another set of experiments (Phase 2A, Figure 1), we investigated the degree to which female BFs express a preference for the song of one or more individual males and the degree to which that preference is consistent across time and repeated tests (N = 21 female birds that included none of the 16 birds used in tests of copulation solicitation display (CSD))
Summary
In the context of mate selection by female songbirds, male suitors seek to attract female mates through their song performances and other signals such as plumage or reproductive displays Females detect those signals and use that sensory information to form a subjective evaluation of the quality of each signal and the associated male. Other studies reveal that individual females differ in their preference for specific characteristics, indicating that the female’s evaluation can be influenced by individual-specific features of perception rather than the physical properties of the signal [11,12] Both the physical properties of reproductive signals and the individual-specific nature of the cognitive behaviors through which those signals are evaluated can have a profound impact on female mate choice
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