VOCAL RECOGNITION OF CONSPECIFICS IN NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS
The ability to differentiate between conspecifics
and heterospecifics is essential in mate choice and competition for
resources across many taxa. In songbirds, vocalizations are
integral in species recognition, and song characteristics that are
species-specific are predicted to be conserved
within the species and distinct from sympatric heterospecifics to avoid
fitness costs associated with attempts at
hybridization.
Songbirds in the Mimidae face a unique challenge in
vocal species recognition as they lack an apparent species-specific
song. Members of this clade, such as Northern
Mockingbirds and Brown Thrashers, amass large repertoires of song types
by mimicking the songs of other species as
well as sounds in their environment. This method of song learning
allows for a large amount of variation between
individual repertoires and a potential for overlap in repertoires
between heterospecific mimids.
My research focuses on species recognition in
Northern Mockingbirds and address two main goals:
1. What vocal
cue do mockingbirds use when differentiating between conspecifics and
heterospecifics?
2. What is
the neural mechanism of species recognition in mockingbirds?
I use playback experiments in the field using
manipulated song files and immunocytochemistry staining for ZENK
(egr-1) and Tyrosine Hydroxlase (dopamine) to investigate these
questions.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Reichard, D.G. and
Price, J.J. 2008. Species recognition
in a vocal
mimic: repetition pattern not the only cue used by Northern
Mockingbirds in discriminating
between
songs of conspecifics and Brown Thrashers. Wilson Journal of
Ornithology
120(4): 717-724.
PRESENTED PAPERS
Reichard, D.G. and Price, J.J. Vocal
recognition
of conspecifics in Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus
Polyglottos). American Ornithologists’ Union Conference, Laramie, WY,
August 2007. (Oral Presentation)