Females and Males Sing Distinctly Different Songs in a Temperate Zone Songbird

Abstract

Female song is widespread across songbirds, especially in tropical and subtropical species, in which females sing for resource defence, competition with intruders and mutual mate-guarding. We compared songs of males and females, produced spontaneously in a wild population of the Plain Laughingthrush Pterorhinus davidi, a songbird endemic to temperate China. We found that both sexes sing in this species and the number of notes within a song differed significantly between the two sexes. Females generally produced a longer first note than downstream notes; however, males sang in more variable frequencies than females. Males and females also differed significantly in song duration, pace and note structure. Sex-specific songs may indicate different functions and social and/or sexual selective pressures. Further studies are required to determine the functions of female song in this temperate zone passerine bird.