Female singing: an overlooked component of incubation behaviour in a temperate migratory passerine
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68081766%3A_____%2F25%3A00642970" target="_blank" >RIV/68081766:_____/25:00642970 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jav.03501" target="_blank" >https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jav.03501</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jav.03501" target="_blank" >10.1002/jav.03501</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Female singing: an overlooked component of incubation behaviour in a temperate migratory passerine
Original language description
Recent studies have shown that birdsong is not exclusively a male trait. However, despite increasing research intensity, female singing is still rarely reported in temperate migratory species. Here, we report the observation and description of female vocalization in the great reed warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus. We analysed vocal expression of individually marked great reed warbler females in two central European populations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and show that these vocalizations meet criteria for song. We found that 39.5% of nesting females sang from the nest during early incubation within two hours of video recording. Female mating status, locality, day of the season, and male singing activity did not predict song use in this species, but song rates decreased over the breeding period. Based on current and previous observations, we hypothesize that female great reed warblers use song to signal their territorial presence and reproductive status, potentially deterring conspecific female competitors. However, given that this study was done only in one context and moment in the breeding cycle (early incubation), we encourage further investigation of the functions of female song in this and other temperate migratory species whose female song was overlooked in the past.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10615 - Ornithology
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GA22-26812S" target="_blank" >GA22-26812S: Coevolutionary struggle between a highly virulent brood parasite and its major host</a><br>
Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Journal of Avian Biology
ISSN
0908-8857
e-ISSN
1600-048X
Volume of the periodical
2025
Issue of the periodical within the volume
6
Country of publishing house
US - UNITED STATES
Number of pages
8
Pages from-to
e03501
UT code for WoS article
001650297900010
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105023979733