chapter 6

Question 1

What is behavioural ecology?

Answer 1

The study of the behaviour of organisms with reference to adaptive significance.
They ask questions like:
- What behaviours are important for survival?
- how do organisms defend resources?
- How do they attract mates?
- What behaviours are important for reproduction?
- how do parent and offspring interact?
- When do organisms gather in groups?

Question 2

What are the four main components of Dan’s studies?

Answer 2

Field studies
wildlife recordings
sound playback
radiotelemetry- track animals

Question 3

What is vocal learning?

Answer 3

Must be exposed to “language” when young in order to communicate properly as adults
- They learn how to speak

Question 4

What are the four phases of vocal learning?

Answer 4

Sensory phase: forming a particular auditory memory of the sounds they hear from an adult tutor
Silent period: might make alarm sounds or cry for food, but it does not sing.
Sensorimotor phase: babbling (poor copies of adult song)
Crystallization: Nero activity fixed-harder to learn new songs old songs solidified

Question 5

Where did the study take place?

Answer 5

Bowdoin scientific station in New Brunswick
kent island
(covered with sevana sparrows)

Question 6

What is the process of catching?

Answer 6

Catch in big nets
- take samples
- identify with bands combination

Question 7

What does it mean to have a strong natal site philopatry?

Answer 7

Strong likelihood that individuals breed at or near their place of origin.

Question 8

Life cycle of savana sparrows

Answer 8

• live 2.5 years
• Songs from mating to migration (stops in september)

Question 9

What was the objective of the study?

Answer 9

Use an experimental approach to study song learning in wild birds

Question 10

Methodes

Answer 10

Put up loudspeakers to simulate tutors
- let them run for months at a time
- Broadcast slightly edited savanna sparrow song
- if the birds sing the simulated songs, a researcher could determine where the birds are from and where they learned to sing

Question 11

Vocal learning hypothesis

Answer 11

Wild animals learn songs by listening to conspecific tutor
- RISKY

Question 12

WHO is LBL???

Answer 12

The first bird who learned songs almost identical to those of the stimulus

Question 13

Hypothesis confirmed?

Answer 13

• 30 birds crystallized songs that matched stimulus
• Yes the hyp is confirmed

Answer 14

4 birds learned songs from other subjects (passed down)
4 birds sang experimental songs for just a week
All experimental birds defended a territory and attracted a mate

Question 15

What is the re-exposure hypothesis?

Answer 15

Animals will learn songs that are heard both early in life and prior to 1st breeding season.
- (animals want to fit in while breeding, chooses the song they hear the most)

Question 16

What were the three types of stimuli in the re-exposure hypothesis?

Answer 16

• hear edited song in summer only
  in spring only and in summer and spring
• According to the hypotheses, if they hear it in summer and are exposed to it in the spring, then it should sing that song

Question 17

results of hypotheses 2?

Answer 17

• Most birds learned songs that they heared early in life re exposed to later
• no birds learned songs, only heard in spring
• hypotheses confirmed

Question 18

What is the selective attrition hypothesis

Answer 18

• After over production, animals will retain songs most similar to their neighbours.

Question 19

selective attrition hypothesis confirmed

Answer 19

Birds retain similar songs (adaptive trait-less territorial aggression)
- when you look at a map the birds end up in pockets of similar sounding sparrrows
this creates a dillect