Abstract
Song production across many songbird species is shaped by largely conserved sets of constraints associated with song control, production, and perception. This chapter addresses two main hypotheses: (1) that mechanisms of birdsong production and performance set constraints on vocal structure in ways that run parallel across taxa and that help to explain the evolution of vocal phenotypes; and (2) that resulting variations in birdsong structure influence communicative functions for both intrasexual and intersexual interactions in ways that favor the evolution of vocal phenotypes that challenge vocal performance capacities. Substantial evidence for both hypotheses has accumulated, showing that performance constraints can influence the structure of diverse vocal features and that birds indeed attend and respond differentially to performance-based vocal variations. Topics highlighted for future work include: (1) exploration of neural and endocrine mechanisms that underlie vocal performance, (2) elucidation of cognitive and sampling processes that underlie song performance assessment, and (3) evaluation of the overall impact of song performance on the evolution of songbird vocal phenotypes.
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We are grateful to Sarah Woolley, Jon Sakata, and Arthur Popper for their helpful editorial suggestions.
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Jeffrey Podos declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Ha-Cheol Sung declares that he has no conflict of interest.
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Podos, J., Sung, HC. (2020). Vocal Performance in Songbirds: From Mechanisms to Evolution. In: Sakata, J., Woolley, S., Fay, R., Popper, A. (eds) The Neuroethology of Birdsong. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, vol 71. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34683-6_9
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Print ISBN: 978-3-030-34682-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-34683-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)