Data and code to reproduce analyses from "Song preferences in female Java sparrows: familiarity or complexity?"

Songs play an important role in mate choice for a range of bird species. Many female birds show preferences for specific song features, such as complexity and temporal characteristics, or song familiarity. These features may indicate male quality, or help females to identify locally adapted or genetically compatible mates. Female song preference can shape mating patterns, drive sexual selection, promote local adaptation, and facilitate speciation. It is, therefore, important to understand female preferences to determine how they can contribute to selection and evolution. We examined female preference for song familiarity and song complexity in Java sparrows (Padda oryzivora), a species of conservation concern in the wild. Females were presented with pairs of song stimuli; females completing familiarity trials were presented with familiar (social father or social relative) and unfamiliar songs, and females completing complexity trials were presented with songs that differed in note repertoire or linearity (a measure of structural complexity, calculated as the number of note types divided by the number of unique transitions). We counted behavioural responses to determine preference, using a range of behaviours that are likely to indicate song preference in this species. Overall, females preferred their father’s song over unfamiliar songs, but we did not find strong evidence to suggest that females generalized this preference to other, non-father familiar songs. Females also showed some preference for complex, rather than simple songs, responding more to stimuli with larger note repertoires. Song linearity, on the other hand, had little impact on females’ responses. Our results suggest that female song preference in Java sparrow is multi-faceted, with a number of different factors affecting responses. Further investigation is necessary to work out how these, and other song features, contribute to female preference overall to understand more fully how preference could shape sexual selection, adaptation, and potentially population divergence in this species.

在众多鸟类物种的择偶行为中，歌曲扮演着至关重要的角色。众多雌鸟倾向于特定歌曲特征，如复杂性、时间特性或歌曲的熟悉度。这些特征或许能够反映雄鸟的品质，或协助雌鸟识别地域适应或基因兼容的伴侣。雌鸟对歌曲的偏好能够塑造配对模式，推动性选择，促进地域适应，并促进物种分化。因此，理解雌鸟的偏好对于确定其对选择和进化的贡献至关重要。我们研究了爪哇斑鸠（Padda oryzivora）对歌曲熟悉度和复杂性的偏好，爪哇斑鸠是一种在野外受到关注的保护物种。雌鸟被呈现成对的歌曲刺激；在熟悉度试验中，接受熟悉（社会父亲或社会亲戚）与不熟悉歌曲的雌鸟，而在复杂性试验中，接受在音符储备或线性（一种衡量结构复杂性的指标，计算为音符类型数量除以独特转换数量）上存在差异的歌曲。我们通过一系列可能表明该物种歌曲偏好的行为反应来计数，以确定偏好。总体而言，雌鸟更偏好其父亲的歌声而非不熟悉的歌曲，但我们并未发现强有力的证据表明雌鸟将这种偏好泛化到其他非父亲的熟悉歌曲。雌鸟还对复杂的歌曲而非简单的歌曲表现出一定的偏好，对音符储备更大的刺激反应更强烈。另一方面，歌曲的线性对雌鸟的反应影响甚微。我们的结果表明，爪哇斑鸠雌鸟对歌曲的偏好是多维度的，多个不同的因素影响着反应。进一步的调查是必要的，以弄清楚这些以及其他歌曲特征如何对雌鸟的整体偏好产生影响，从而更全面地理解偏好如何塑造性选择、适应，甚至可能影响该物种的种群分化。