Song tutor choice by zebra finches in aviaries

Abstract

The social interactions and song learning of young male zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, were studied in two aviaries, each containing four breeding pairs and several other adult males. Half of the adults were of the fawn morph and half of the chestnut-flanked white. Seventeen young males were reared, and each tended to learn most of its song from one adult. They showed a strong tendency to learn song elements from males of the same morph as their father and, within that morph, the father tended to be the preferred tutor. Most learnt from the male with which they maintained greatest proximity. No relationship was found between song learning and the song length or singing rate of individual adults, or with various aspects of social behaviour, such as allopreening or aggression. No young bird was seen to be fed by an adult other than one of its parents; most of the young continued to associate more with their siblings than with other juveniles after independence, and there was some evidence that siblings that associated most closely developed most similar song characteristics. Differences in social relationships and in song learning from some earlier studies may stem from the greater space available in the aviaries used here.