The role of arrival time to the breeding grounds in the song development of juvenile pied flycatchers

Abstract

Few studies on song learning have been conducted in the field. Male pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) seem to learn song syllables in the breeding grounds. Adult males arrive first to the breeding grounds and sing more complex songs until they have paired. Early arriving juveniles may have more opportunities to learn new syllables from adult neighbours and develop more complex songs than later arriving juveniles. However, results suggest that arrival time is not important in song complexity development, but that males develop greater song complexity (repertoire size and song versatility) regardless as they age.