Species-specific song responses emerge as a by-product of tuning to the local dialect
David Wheatcroft, Louis Bliard, Myriam El Harouchi, David López‐Idiáquez, Tiia Kärkkäinen, Fanny-Linn H. Kraft, Jaime Muriel, Samyuktha Rajan, Tomas Tuvillo, Malcolm D. Burgess, Alejandro Cantarero, Toni Laaksonen, Jesús Martínez‐Padilla, Marcel E. Visser, Anna Qvarnström
Abstract
Here, we experimentally assess the drivers of song discrimination in nestling pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). We first demonstrate that early discrimination against the songs of the closely related collared flycatcher (F. albicollis) is not strongly affected by co-occurrence. Second, across six European populations, we show that nestlings' early song responses are tuned to their local song dialect and that responses to the songs of collared flycatchers are similarly weak as to those of other conspecific dialects. Taken together, these findings provide clear experimental support for the hypothesis that cultural evolution, in conjunction with associated learning predispositions, drives the emergence of pre-mating reproductive barriers.