Climatic patterns predict the elaboration of song displays in mockingbirds.

ABSTRACT: Climatic variability and unpredictability affect the distribution and abundance of resources and the timing and duration of breeding opportunities. In vertebrates, climatic variability selects for enhanced cognition when organisms compensate for environmental changes through learning and innovation. This hypothesis is supported by larger brain sizes, higher foraging innovation rates, higher reproductive flexibility, and higher sociality in species living in more variable climates. Male songbirds sing to attract females and repel rivals. Given the reliance of these displays on learning and innovation, we hypothesized that they could also be affected by climatic patterns. Here we show that in the mockingbird family (Aves: Mimidae), species subject to more variable and unpredictable climates

SUBMITTER: Botero CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3541702 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature