Song Quality Research Articles

Photoperiodism, testosterone and adult neurogenesis in canaries (Serinus canaria).

Domestic strains of canaries (Serinus canaria) variably respond to photoperiod changes and apparently stay in breeding state for extended periods. Fife Fancy canaries are supposed to be similar to the native species living at 27-39° north where photoperiod significantly changes across the year. Our birds showed reproductive cycles when exposed to light regimes mimicking the annual cycle of photoperiod. However after 6 months in short days (SD: 8L:16D), males developed large testes, as observed by X-ray tomography, and intense singing. Switching to long days (LD: 16L:8D) did not further increase song rate nor testes size but increased song duration, number of syllables per song, and trill occurrence frequency. No sign of regression was observed after 12 weeks in LD but return to SD produced a rapid decrease in testes size and singing activity below values in birds maintained throughout in SD. Fife Fancy thus does not seem to develop absolute but only relative refractoriness. The relatively high singing activity expressed by SD-photosensitive males does not seem to depend on high testosterone (T) concentrations. Singing did not correlate with plasma testosterone (T). Treatment with ATD + Flutamide only marginally decreased song rate and did not affect song quality nor song control nuclei volume. These birds are either supersensitive to low T levels or their reproductive physiology is activated by other mechanisms. Neurogenesis is increased by T and by LD but the function of new neurons incorporated in HVC is poorly understood. We developed a procedure based on X-ray focal irradiation to deplete neural progenitors adjacent to HVC and study the functional consequences. The decrease in neurogenesis increased the variability of T-induced songs in females and decreased their bandwidth. Neurogenesis in HVC thus plays a role in song production and X-ray focal irradiation represents an excellent tool to analyze adult neurogenesis.

Singing voice separation based on U-NET neural network and its application

Singing Voice separation is a very important method that helps people to obtain a vocal or accompaniment for further usage like music composing. In this paper, I developed a Song accompaniment separation application based on Convolutional neural network Unet model and Deep learning (DL). Basically, the U-net convolutional network is applied to the two-dimensional spectrum of a music audio in order to achieve a more precise separation effect. During this deep learning process, a significant amount of data was inserted into the model to get the best fit parameters. Then, after all, the model can automatically generate a mask that filters out the accompaniment or vocal part that users want.. This completed model is then transmitted to the terminal of a internet server to enable users to get access to the model through internet. After the test of both quantitative evaluation and subjective assessment, the application impressively achieved the Song accompaniment Separation that provides a good quality of both vocal and song.

Does fortune follow function? Exploring how consumer preferences drive the functional trait composition of the global songbird trade

Abstract Defaunation and extinction undermine the resilience and functioning of ecological communities and ecosystems. Relative to other disturbances, overexploitation for the global wildlife trade presents a unique case of trait‐based selection, as demand for specific individuals is often tied to unique morphological or aesthetic traits desired by consumers (‘market traits’). Because evolutionary history leads to species that share both market and functional traits, we posit that non‐random patterns of exploitation will result in non‐random loss of functional diversity. We applied a trait‐based framework to the global songbird trade for 4616 species, 148 of which are plausibly threatened by the trade. We quantified select market traits, such as unique coloration and song quality, and ecological traits related to body size, diet, and foraging strategy to assess whether the trade disproportionately threatens particular functional groups. We additionally looked for patterns of association between market traits and functional traits to assess whether selection on certain market traits could drive selection on associated functional traits. We found that overexploited birds are a distinct functional subset of the global songbird pool, with the trade disproportionately threatening large bodied, frugivorous, and seed eating birds. Across all songbirds, there were multiple non‐random associations between market traits and functional traits, with the strongest associations observed among trade‐threatened birds; this was consistent with our theory that consumer‐driven selection on market traits could theoretically result in selection on functional traits. However, there was mixed evidence for this hypothesis at a global scale, suggesting that disproportionate threat to functional diversity may be more likely in regions where there is heavy demand for associated market traits. Policy implications. Our results highlight the need for increased focus on the mechanistic drivers of trait‐based selection on the consumer side of wildlife trade, and how patterns of overexploitation can systematically affect ecological communities and ecosystem services. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Cannabidiol inhibits neuroinflammatory responses and circuit-associated synaptic loss following damage to a songbird vocal pre-motor cortical-like region

The non-euphorigenic phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) has been used successfully to treat childhood-onset epilepsies. These conditions are associated with developmental delays that often include vocal learning. Zebra finch song, like language, is a complex behavior learned during a sensitive period of development. Song quality is maintained through continuous sensorimotor refinement involving circuits that control learning and production. Within the vocal motor circuit, HVC is a cortical-like region that when partially lesioned temporarily disrupts song structure. We previously found CBD (10 mg/kg/day) improves post-lesion vocal recovery. The present studies were done to begin to understand mechanisms possibly responsible for CBD vocal protection. We found CBD markedly reduced expression of inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress markers. These effects were associated with regionally-reduced expression of the microglial marker TMEM119. As microglia are key regulators of synaptic reorganization, we measured synapse densities, finding significant lesion-induced circuit-wide decreases that were largely reversed by CBD. Synaptic protection was accompanied by NRF2 activation and BDNF/ARC/ARG3.1/MSK1 expression implicating mechanisms important to song circuit node mitigation of oxidative stress and promotion of synaptic homeostasis. Our findings demonstrate that CBD promotes an array of neuroprotective processes consistent with modulation of multiple cell signaling systems, and suggest these mechanisms are important to post-lesion recovery of a complex learned behavior.

Variable ambient temperature promotes song learning and production in zebra finches.

Current climate change is leading to increasingly unpredictable environmental conditions and is imposing new challenges to wildlife. For example, ambient conditions fluctuating during critical developmental periods could potentially impair the development of cognitive systems and may therefore have a long-term influence on an individual's life. We studied the impact of temperature variability on zebra finch cognition, focusing on song learning and song quality (N = 76 males). We used a 2 × 2 factorial experiment with two temperature conditions (stable and variable). Half of the juveniles were cross-fostered at hatching to create a mismatch between pre- and posthatching conditions, the latter matching this species' critical period for song learning. We found that temperature variability did not affect repertoire size, syllable consistency, or the proportion of syllables copied from a tutor. However, birds that experienced variable temperatures in their posthatching environment were more likely to sing during recordings. In addition, birds that experienced variable prenatal conditions had higher learning accuracy than birds in stable prenatal environments. These findings are the first documented evidence that variable ambient temperatures can influence song learning in zebra finches. Moreover, they indicate that temperature variability can act as a form of environmental enrichment with net positive effects on cognition.

Unsupervised classification to improve the quality of a bird song recording dataset

Open audio databases such as Xeno-Canto are widely used to build datasets to explore bird song repertoire or to train models for automatic bird sound classification by deep learning algorithms. However, such databases suffer from the fact that bird sounds are weakly labelled: a species name is attributed to each audio recording without timestamps that provide the temporal localization of the bird song of interest. Manual annotations can solve this issue, but they are time consuming, expert-dependent, and cannot run on large datasets. Another solution consists in using a labelling function that automatically segments audio recordings before assigning a label to each segmented audio sample. Although labelling functions were introduced to expedite strong label assignment, their classification performance remains mostly unknown. To address this issue and reduce label noise (wrong label assignment) in large bird song datasets, we introduce a data-centric novel labelling function composed of three successive steps: 1) time-frequency sound unit segmentation, 2) feature computation for each sound unit, and 3) classification of each sound unit as bird song or noise with either an unsupervised DBSCAN algorithm or the supervised BirdNET neural network. The labelling function was optimized, validated, and tested on the songs of 44 West-Palearctic common bird species. We first showed that the segmentation of bird songs alone aggregated from 10% to 83% of label noise depending on the species. We also demonstrated that our labelling function was able to significantly reduce the initial label noise present in the dataset by up to a factor of three. Finally, we discuss different opportunities to design suitable labelling functions to build high-quality animal vocalizations with minimum expert annotation effort.

Is plasticity in field cricket mating behaviour mediated by experience of song quality?

Many animals rely upon signals to discriminate among potential mates. Through mate choice, they may gain fitness advantages for themselves and their offspring and exert selection on signals and signallers. In some species, mating preferences are phenotypically plastic and mediated by experience of signals. Teleogryllus oceanicus , the Pacific field cricket, has been a productive model for studies of acoustically mediated phenotypic plasticity because many aspects of adult mating behaviour and reproductive physiology are differentially expressed when crickets develop in the presence versus absence of conspecific signals. An open question is whether the quality of conspecific signals experienced during development also mediates the mating preferences of adult females, as it does in some other animals. We tested the mating assurance in a variable environment hypothesis, which posits that adaptive plasticity in the expression of female mating preferences could protect females from costs associated with being too selective when preferred mates are rare or absent, while allowing selectivity when preferred mates are available. We experimentally manipulated the acoustic signals in the rearing environment as a reliable cue about the availability of preferred mates in the adult environment. Specifically, environments varied in the percentage of long chirp, a trait of male advertisement song known to be under precopulatory sexual selection. When subjects reached maturity, we used a within-subjects phonotaxis (movement towards sound) assay to measure female preferences for the percentage of long chirp. We replicated our experiment in populations from three islands of the Hawaiian Archipelago. We found evidence that some measures of female response are plastic and mediated by song quality, but effects were population specific and not entirely consistent with the predictions of the mating assurance in a variable environment hypothesis. Our results point to limited song quality-mediated plasticity in female mating preferences. • We manipulated signal quality in the environment and measured phonotaxis behaviour. • Plasticity in female mating behaviour was limited and variable among populations. • Oʻahu females were more responsive, selective after experiencing high-quality song. • Hilo females showed a peak preference for 60% long chirp songs and no plasticity. • Kauaʻi, a population with near-complete signal loss, showed no song preference.

Approximations and Appropriations

The article explores the suitability of the terms approximation and appropriation for describing source–target relations in song translations. It is argued that the terms are fit and flexible enough to serve the variability of sung target texts, the many contexts and genres songs appear in, and the fact a song must be performed to be a song. They can be understood simply as ‘coming or getting near’ and ‘making it your own,’ respectively, but they can also be used to recognize different kinds of approximation (textual, musical, stylistic-aesthetic, visual, etc.) and signs of appropriation (discoursal, sociocultural, ethnic, etc.). The terms have been used in previous research in music and translation but less so in general translation studies, perhaps because of a perceived connotation of imperfection or controversy. The variability of song translation is discussed through diverse examples: two hit tunes, a music video, a hymn, a scout song, and an opera aria. A song translation can (only) deliver an approximation of some qualities of a source song, but it will also (often) change some of those qualities in an appropriation for a new situation.

Context dependent song-flight performance and timing in the Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)

Many songbirds produce song-flights; however, the function, vocal and motor characteristics, as well as the diel and seasonal variation of song-flight in songbirds remain not well understood. Here, we studied two types of song-flight in male Black-headed Buntings (Emberiza melanocephala), the Moth — a standard, i.e., perch song produced during a horizontal flight, and the Towering — a specifically structured song produced during a complex ascending and descending flight. While perch song, used during Moth flight, has already been described, here we provide the first description and sonogram representation of the more elaborate and less stereotyped Towering song. While males started to perform Moth song-flights as soon as they arrived at the breeding site, Towering did not start before the female arrival. Males usually delivered spontaneous Moth song-flights before chasing rivals or undertaking aerial fights, suggesting Moth is directed towards conspecific males and serves as a threat display. Furthermore, playback of conspecific perch songs triggered males to approach the loudspeaker with Moth song-flights. The Towering started after females arrived at the breeding site, suggesting the Towering is directed towards conspecific females. We detected a seasonal difference in the peak Towering rate between forenoon and afternoon, suggesting that Towerings performed at different times of the day have different functions. Forenoon Towerings were strongly positively related to the number of fertile females at the breeding site, while afternoon Towerings peaked very early in the breeding season and coincided with the number of females at the breeding site before the onset of nest-building. These results provide evidence that birds can direct different types of song-flight towards different receivers and suggest the possibility that time of the day determines the context of the display, namely to attract social mates or solicit copulation. Further work is needed to account for the effect of between male variability in song-flight rate, as well as in height/steepness of flight or song quality.

The Use of Foul Language in Pop Music Composition in Nigeria: A Historical Analysis

The background and exposure of music artistes contribute a lot in shaping the quality of songs they compose and produce. Since the 21st century, there has been a great departure in what used to be the ideal choice of words for musical composition and productions in Nigeria, especially in the popular music spheres. Hitherto, musicians of all genres were careful in their choice of words; but regrettably, the decent use of language is fast disappearing especially in dance hall and emotional songs. This stems from the cultural shack on the part of the artistes especially in the influence of the environment. It is this inherent lacuna that this paper seeks to address but most importantly the paper recommends a cultural policy for the government and as well as the need to checkmate and regulate the brands of music by periodically engaging DJs, radio presenters and other principal stakeholders in the entertainment industries.

Unilateral vocal nerve resection alters neurogenesis in the avian song system in a region-specific manner.

New neurons born in the adult brain undergo a critical period soon after migration to their site of incorporation. During this time, the behavior of the animal may influence the survival or culling of these cells. In the songbird song system, earlier work suggested that adult-born neurons may be retained in the song motor pathway nucleus HVC with respect to motor progression toward a target song during juvenile song learning, seasonal song restructuring, and experimentally manipulated song variability. However, it is not known whether the quality of song per se, without progressive improvement, may also influence new neuron survival. To test this idea, we experimentally altered song acoustic structure by unilateral denervation of the syrinx, causing a poor quality song. We found no effect of aberrant song on numbers of new neurons in HVC, suggesting that song quality does not influence new neuron culling in this region. However, aberrant song resulted in the loss of left-side dominance in new neurons in the auditory region caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), and a bilateral decrease in new neurons in the basal ganglia nucleus Area X. Thus new neuron culling may be influenced by behavioral feedback in accordance with the function of new neurons within that region. We propose that studying the effects of singing behaviors on new neurons across multiple brain regions that differentially subserve singing may give rise to general rules underlying the regulation of new neuron survival across taxa and brain regions more broadly.

Perinatal exposure to antibiotics reduces affiliative behavior after post-weaning in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)

Social behavior is influenced by a host of factors, including the immune system; for example, song quality in male starlings predicts immunocompetence suggesting the development of the immune system is interconnected with aspects social development (Duffy and Ball, 2002). Treating birds with antibiotics during the perinatal period may alter this development, and thereby, social behaviors beyond song. We asked if antibiotic exposure during the perinatal period effected parenting and offspring social behavior (e.g. aggressive and affiliative behaviors) in zebra finches? We treated the drinking water of zebra finch parents and hatchlings from post-hatch day 5–14 with azithromycin or a vehicle control and monitored parenting/social behavior. After weaning, we transferred offspring from the breeding cage to group housing and monitored social behavior and integration into the colony by measuring aggressive and affiliative behaviors. For all treatments we saw a reduction in the number of songs performed by fathers, however, specifically for antibiotic treated offspring there was a reduction in affiliative behaviors relative to vehicle treated controls suggesting the immune system, perhaps via the guts microbiome, influences certain aspects of social behaviors in birds.

Drifting to the top? Disentangling mechanisms influencing the turnover rate of popular music

ABSTRACT What causes turnover on the Billboard charts? The neutral model of cultural evolution, which assumes that taste is transmitted via an unbiased copying process, provides precise predictions regarding expected popularity distributions and turnover within a popularity-ranked list. Recent advances in this line make it possible to characterize the likelihood of music taste transmission mechanisms by investigating departures of observed turnover rates from neutral model predictions. Here, I bias the neutral model to investigate four alternative conceptions of individual music taste transmission (song quality, individual status, social network, and anticonformist) and use agent-based simulations to examine the impact on turnover. I then compare modeled with empirical turnover data from the Billboard Hot 100 over the period from 1958 to 2021 and find that observed turnover patterns are reproduced only in an anticonformist model simulating the systematic rejection of the most popular songs. This finding was unexpected and challenges the notion of a generalized “preference for the popular.” Overall, this study contributes to ongoing debates regarding the mechanisms involved in the transmission of taste and the mechanics of fashion change.

The reflection of fabulousness in Igor Kovach’s musical theatre (on the example of the fairy-tale ballet “Bambi”)

Problem statement. Among Kharkiv composers, one of the significant places is occupied by Igor Kovach (1924–2003), a representative of the Kharkiv School of composers and Ukrainian musical culture of the 20th century. His works include music and stage, orchestra, concert, song, choral and literary-musical compositions, music for theatre performances, music for films and TV films. The creative legacy of Igor Kostyantynovych Kovach has a close connection with the children’s audience; it includes both instrumental music for young performers and theatrical music, where children from performers become listener, among them the fairy-tale ballets “The Northern Tale” and “Bambi”. The children’s music by I. K. Kovach did not receive proper consideration except for short newspaper essays and magazine notes, M. Bevz’s (2007) article devoted to children’s piano music. Thus, the problem of holistic study of children’s stage music by Igor Kovach still remains open. Objectives. The present article is devoted to the identification of musicalthematic, timbre-texture, genre-stylistic features, with the help of which the multifaceted figurative world of the ballet “Bambi” is embodied. The aim and the tasks of this research – to reveal the specifics of the figurative world of the fairytale ballet “Bambi” and to identify the musical means by which it is embodied. The role of the orchestra is established, the means of thematic characteristics of the characters are traced, and the peculiarities of the musical language stipulated by the requirements of the chosen genre are noted. Methodology. To achieve the aim we have used special scientific methods: genre, stylistic, intonation-dramaturgical and compositional ones. The presentation of the main material. The music for the fairy-tale ballet “Bambi” belongs to two authors: Igor Kovach and his son Yuri. The new features inherent in the sound palette are manifested in the instrumentation, where along with the usual composition of a modern symphony orchestra there are saxophones, rhythm- and bass-guitars, drums, which due to their timbres bring a sharp taste of emotional and behavioural looseness. Introducing the qualities of non-academic tradition into the academic orchestra, the authors, on the one hand, use them according to their origin, on the other – turn them into an organic part of the symphonic score. By making a “concession” to pop music, simplifying harmonious language, freeing it from the extreme manifestations of expanded tonality, bringing it closer, on the one hand, to classical-romantic, on the other – to jazz, Igor Kovach showed his inherent sense of modernity, “address quality” of creativity. Conclusions. Thus, the fabulous multifaceted world of “Bambi” is revealed in the ballet owing to the bright thinking and language of the composer. The action of the ballet takes place against the background of bright genre sketches, which are as if immersed in the very density of life. This impression arises due to the dynamics of rhythms, colourful orchestration, and a variety of styles, addressed to the sound world of today. Generalized intonations of academic art organically coexist with the turns of song quality of different origins, dance quality, march quality, jazz improvisations, which was facilitated by the co-authorship with Yuri Kovach.

Sarojini Naidu as a Writer of Love-Lyrics

Sarojini Naidu is a writer of lyrics which have beauty and charm, delicate fancy and gossamer imagination, emotional fervour and sensuo-usness. Her poems reveal her sex. Talking of them, Arthur Symons wrote, "It is for this bird-like quality of song that they are to be valued". More than one third of bulk of her poetry is devoted to a lyrical presentation of the bliss of love and pathos of separation. Some of her typical love-lyrics are Ecstasy, Song of Radha, The Milk Maid, A Persian Love-Song, In a Time of Flowers, Humayun to Zobeida, Devotion etc. In the poem Alabaster she gives us a clear description of her heart:
 Like this alabaster box whose art is frail as a cassia-flower, is my heart, carven with delicate dreams and wrought with many a subtle and exquisite thought. Therein I treasure the spice and scent of rich and passionate memories blent like odours of cinnamon, sandal and clove, of song and sorrow and life and love,
 (Alabaster p. 24)

“An umbrella made of precious gems”: An Examination of Memory and Diasporic Identities in Kerala Jewish Songs and Literature

The Jews living in the state of Kerala enact their diasporic identities through a unique narrative network including songs, stories, and memoirs. Drawing on memory studies and affect theory, this article aims to examine selected Jewish folk songs as an example of entanglement of memory and culture, nostalgia and narrative. We study Oh, Lovely Parrot (2004), which is a compilation of 43 typical Kerala “parrot songs” – devotional hymns and songs for special occasions – translated from Malayalam into English by Scaria Zacharia and Barbara C. Johnson. Performances of these songs constitute cultural as well as affective phenomena that bring together Jewish identities, especially female rituals, in a collective effort to preserve their ethnic memory and its associated social identity. The music unique to this community illustrates the ancestry and tradition of the Kerala Jews which held them together even after ‘aliyah’ (a Hebrew word referring to the migration to the nation state of Israel post-1948). Using selected songs from the book, the article aims to examine the community’s cultural identity markers related to experiential and discursive diasporic memory. It also draws on the memoir Ruby of Cochin: An Indian Jewish Woman Remembers (2001) by Ruby Daniel and Barbara C. Johnson to analyse the affective quality of songs which unites the community in collective imagination and in complex nostalgia narratives.

Early life nutritional stress affects song learning but not underlying neural circuitry in zebra finches.

Early life stress negatively impacts behavior and underlying neural circuitry across species. The present study investigated the effects of nutritional stress (NS), which increases parental foraging, on song quality in males, song preferences in females, and the size and number of cells in song and auditory regions of the zebra finch brain. We hypothesized that NS would decrease song quality in males and decrease preference for high quality song in females. Furthermore, we predicted that NS would reduce the size of song nuclei and decrease the number of cells in song and auditory regions. In males, NS decreased the number of syllable types (a measure of song complexity), decreased the number of high notes and flat notes, and increased the number of noisy notes, but had no effect on song rate or song length. In females, NS reduced preferences for high quality song. Despite these behavioral effects, there were no effects of NS on song and auditory nuclei, although there were effects of age and sex. These results suggest that NS affects behavior in both males and females, but these effects are not attributable to the number of cells or size of song and auditory regions. Such findings add to our understanding of the effects of early life stress on behavior and cognition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Heterospecific song quality as social information for settlement decisions: an experimental approach in a wild bird

Assessing local habitat quality via social cues provided by conspecific or heterospecific individuals sharing the same needs is a widespread strategy of social information use for breeding habitat selection. However, gathering information about putative competitors may involve agonistic costs. The use of social cues reflecting local habitat quality acquired from a distance, such as acoustic cues, could therefore be favoured. Bird songs are conspicuous signals commonly assumed to reliably reflect producer quality, and thereby local site quality. Birds of various species have been shown to be attracted to breeding sites by conspecific and heterospecific songs, and to use conspecific song features as information on producer (and by extension habitat) quality. Whether they can do the same with heterospecific song features, and whether this depends on the individual's own phenotype and especially its competitive ability, remains unknown. We used a playback experiment in a wild population of collared flycatchers, Ficedula albicollis, a species known to eavesdrop on the presence and performance of dominant great tits, Parus major. We tested whether flycatchers, whose aggressiveness was experimentally assessed, preferred to settle near playback of a high-quality great tit song (i.e. song with large repertoire size, long strophes, high song rate), a low-quality great tit song or a chaffinch song (control). Among old females, aggressive ones preferred to settle near playback of high-quality tit song and avoided playback of low-quality tit song, while less aggressive females preferred to settle near playback of low-quality tit song. Male personality or age did not influence settlement decisions. This shows that collared flycatcher females use great tit song quality features as information for settlement decisions, although this depended on their own competitive ability and/or previous experience with great tit songs. Our study therefore further illustrates the complex condition-dependent use of heterospecific social information for breeding habitat selection.

Potential Natural Aromatase Blockers on Enhance the Frequency and Sound Quality of Male Canaries

The quality sound of singing birds strongly depends on testosterone. Unfortunately, most of the testosterone will be converted to estradiol by the aromatase enzyme. The study aimed to examine the potential of natural aromatase blockers for increasing the frequency and quality of canary chirps. Five adult male canaries, with bodyweight 25-30 g were used in the study. After being adapted for a week, birds were fed a mixture of aromatase blockers and canary seed for 20 days at a dose of 0.3 mg /30 g body weight. Quantities of a song using Hagemon touch methods were calculated by frequency of chirping for 10 minutes, whereas the quality of the song was counted by the periods of once chirping for 10 minutes. Recording begins when the bird is given standard feeding and repeated after treatment for 20 days. The results showed that the frequency of chirping before given a mixture of ingredients was 15.3 /10 min, after being treated with aromatase blockers the frequency increased up to 78.9 /10 min. The length of the tweet before treatment was <1s while after treatment up to 17s. It can be concluded that aromatase blockers can increase the frequency and quality of male Canary's song.

In vivo online monitoring of testosterone-induced neuroplasticity in a female songbird

Adult neuroplasticity in the song control system of seasonal songbirds is largely driven by photoperiod-induced increases in testosterone. Prior studies of the relationships between testosterone, song performance and neuroplasticity used invasive techniques, which prevent analyzing the dynamic changes over time and often focus on pre-defined regions-of-interest instead of examining the entire brain. Here, we combined (i) in vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to assess structural neuroplasticity with (ii) repeated monitoring of song and (iii) measures of plasma testosterone concentrations in thirteen female photosensitive starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) who received a testosterone implant for 3 weeks. We observed fast (days) and slower (weeks) effects of testosterone on song behavior and structural neuroplasticity and determined how these effects correlate on a within-subject level, which suggested separate contributions of the song motor and anterior forebrain pathways in the development of song performance. Specifically, the increase in testosterone correlated with a rapid increase of song rate and RA volume, and with changes in Area X microstructure. After implant removal, these variables rapidly reverted to baseline levels. In contrast, the more gradual improvement of song quality was positively correlated with the fractional anisotropy values (DTI metric sensitive to white matter changes) of the HVC-RA tract and of the lamina mesopallialis, which contains fibers connecting the song control nuclei. Thus, we confirmed many of the previously reported testosterone-induced effects, like the increase in song control nuclei volume, but identified for the first time a more global picture of the spatio-temporal changes in brain plasticity.