Abstract
I briefly discuss the major current hypotheses which have been put forward to explain the apparently redundant song repertoires of many oscine birds: individual recognition; sexual selection; matched countersinging; and habituation. I then propose an alternative idea, that song repertoires in some species have evolved in the context of density assessment. In the great tit, non-territorial birds use the song of residents as a cue in assessing density, and I suggest that repertoires are used by resident birds to increase the apparent density of singing residents, and hence decrease the apparent suitability of the area to new birds. I explore some implications of the idea and list some predictions.
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