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138 results for “zebra finch”
Zebra finches increase social behavior in traffic noise: implications for urban songbirds
<p>Statistical code & datasets for "Zebra finches increase social behavior in traffic noise: implications for urban songbirds" manuscript submitted to <em>Acta ethologica. </em>Also includes audio file for traffic noise playback in described experiment. </p>
Monitor predation on zebra finch nest
<p>Here, we report a detailed predation sequence, captured on film, of a sand goanna (<i>Varanus gouldii</i>) predating six zebra finch nestlings from a single nestbox in arid western New South Wales, Australia. The sand goanna made nine attempts to reach the nestbox by first climbing an adjacent bush and jumping onto the nestbox and eventually also by climbing up the steel post on which the box was attached. </p>
Zebra finch dataset for the paper: Benchmarking nearest neighbor retrieval of zebra finch vocalizations across development
<p>This is the dataset created in the paper "Benchmarking nearest neighbor retrieval of zebra finch vocalizations across development".</p>
Brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviour in zebra finches
<p>Flying animals have had to evolve robust and effective guidance strategies for dealing with habitat clutter. Birds and insects use optic flow cues to sense and avoid obstacles, but orchid bees have also been shown to use brightness cues during gap negotiation. Brightness cues might therefore be of general importance in structuring visually guided flight. To test the hypothesis that brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in birds, we presented captive zebra finches <em>Taeniopygia guttata</em> with a symmetric or asymmetric background brightness distribution on the other side of a tunnel. The background brightness conditions influenced both the birds' decision to enter the tunnel aperture, and their flight direction upon exit. Zebra finches were more likely to initiate flight through the tunnel if they could see a bright background through it; they were also more likely to fly to the bright side upon exiting. We found no evidence of the centring response that would be expected if optic flow cues were balanced bilaterally during gap negotiation. Instead, the birds entered the tunnel by targeting a clearance of approximately one wing length from its near edge. Brightness cues therefore affect how zebra finches structure their flight when negotiating gaps in enclosed environments.</p>
Recordings of zebra finch group behaviors with manually annotated vocal segments
<div> <div>This dataset contains recording files and manually annotated vocal segments of freely behaving zebra finches in the BirdPark. The files contain animal-borne accelerometer, microphone and video channels. Birds are housed in groups of different sizes (2, 4, or 8 birds, (one 7-mins file per group). The dataset contains 112 mins of recordings from 4 different experiments.</div> </div> <p>The dataset is published as an appendix of the following paper:</p> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.23.509166">Rüttimann, L., Wang, Y., Rychen, J., Tomka, T., Hörster, H., Rocha, M. D., & Hahnloser, R. H. (2024). Multimodal system for recording individual-level behaviors in songbird groups. bioRxiv.</a></p> <p>See the README.pdf file for a detailed description.</p>
Zebra finch song and distance call amplitude measurements: A transmission experiment and observational transects in the natural environment
<p>Birdsong is typically seen as a long-range signal functioning in mate attraction and territory defense. Among birds, the zebra finch is the prime model organism in bioacoustics, yet almost exclusively studied in the lab. In the wild, however, zebra finch song differs strikingly from songbirds commonly studied in the wild as zebra finch males sing most after mating and in the absence of territoriality. Using data from the wild, we here provide an ecological context for a wealth of laboratory studies. By integrating calibrated sound recordings, sound transmission experiments and social ecology of zebra finches in the wild with insights from hearing physiology we show that wild zebra finch song is a very short-range signal with an audible range of about nine meters and that even the louder distance calls do not carry much farther (up to about fourteen meters). These integrated findings provide an ecological context for the interpretation of laboratory studies of this species and indicate that the vocal communication distance of the main laboratory species for avian acoustics contrasts strikingly with songbirds that use their song as a long-range advertisement signal.</p>
Data for: Zebra finch song ecology: monitoring of breeding, observational transects, focal and year-round acoustic recordings, and a large-scale simultaneous playback experiment
<p class="MsoNormal">Male songbirds sing to establish territories and to attract mates. However, increasing reports of singing in non-reproductive contexts and by females show that song use is more diverse than previously considered. Therefore, alternative functions of song, such as social cohesion and synchronisation of breeding, by and large were overlooked even in such well-studied species as the zebra finch (<em>Taeniopygia guttata</em>). In these social songbirds only the males sing and pairs breed synchronously in loose colonies following aseasonal rain events in their arid habitat. As males are not territorial, and pairs form long-term monogamous bonds early in life, conventional theory predicts that zebra finches should not sing much at all; yet they do and their song is the focus of hundreds of lab-based studies. We hypothesise that zebra finch song functions to maintain social cohesion and to synchronise breeding. Here we test this idea using data from five years of field studies, including observational transects, focal and year-round audio recordings, and a large-scale playback experiment. We show that zebra finches frequently sing while in groups, that breeding status influences song output at the nest and at aggregations, that they sing year-round, and that they predominantly sing when with their partner, suggesting that song remains important after pair formation. Our playback reveals that song actively features in social aggregations as it attracts conspecifics. Together, these results demonstrate that birdsong has important functions beyond territoriality and mate choice, illustrating its importance in coordination and cohesion of social units within larger societies.</p>
Data from: Mitochondrial function is enhanced by thyroid hormones during zebra finch development
<p>An organism's response to its environment is largely underpinned by changes in the energy supplied by the aerobic mitochondrial metabolism via adenosine-tri-phosphate (ATP) production. ATP is especially important under energy-demanding conditions, such as during growth. The biological mechanisms through which environmental factors feed-back on mitochondrial function, and thus growth, are poorly understood, but recent studies suggest a role of hormones. In particular, thyroid hormones (THs) are key regulators of growth and metabolism in vertebrates, which react flexibly to environmental influences, such as temperature or nutrient availability. We manipulated TH levels within physiological ranges during the main growth phase in zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) nestlings, to test for causal relationships with mitochondrial function and growth. Our TH-treatment accelerated skeletal growth and maximal mitochondrial working capacity, ETS – a mitochondrial trait reflecting ATP production potential. Furthermore, TH marginally elevated cellular metabolic rate and oxidative phosphorylation, the final step of ATP production. To our knowledge, this is the first study to characterize the regulation of mitochondria by TH during development in a naturalistic context and to address the implications for fitness.</p>
Hanging out in the outback: the use of social hotspots by wild zebra finches
<p>The social and spatial organisation of avian societies is often complex and dynamic with individuals socialising with others in a local population. Although social interactions can readily be described in colonial breeders through the location of nests, social interactions regularly take place in other contexts that are often not considered. Social behaviour in the colonially breeding zebra finch, <em>Taeniopygia</em> <em>guttata</em>, has been the focus of much work in the laboratory, but very little is known about their social organisation in free-living populations, especially outside the breeding context. Here we characterise semi-permanent gathering locations, or 'social hotspots' in the zebra finch in the wild. We determined the use of such social hotspots and the resulting group dynamics by quantifying movements to and from these locations through direct observation and by quantifying the vocal activity at these locations using acoustic recorders. We show that, throughout the day, zebra finches regularly visit these hotspots, and the hotspots are occupied for a substantial proportion of the day. Individuals typically arrived and left in pairs, or small groups, indicating that these social hotspots do not function just for flock formation. Instead, the high levels of vocal activity at these hotspots indicate that they may potentially function as local hubs for socialisation and information exchange, whilst also perhaps providing safety-in-numbers benefits to individuals during periods of resting. These findings characterise an important component of the natural social life of one of the most widely studied birds in captivity. The characterisation of these social hotspots highlights the use of landmarks by birds to facilitate social contacts, cohesion, and behaviour, in a social bird. Similar hangouts and social hotspots may be a feature of social behaviour in other multi-level aggregative species in which the fission and fusion of groups is an important component of daily life.</p>
The influence of temperature, humidity and wind on the drinking behaviour of the Australian zebra finch
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Hanging out in the outback: the use of social hotspots by wild zebra finches
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Code and datasets associated with: A sex-linked supergene with large effects on sperm traits has little impact on reproductive traits in female zebra finches
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Data for: Zebra finch song ecology: monitoring of breeding, observational transects, focal and year-round acoustic recordings, and a large-scale simultaneous playback experiment
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Brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviour in zebra finches
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Zebra finch song and distance call amplitude measurements: A transmission experiment and observational transects in the natural environment
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Data from: Mitochondrial function is enhanced by thyroid hormones during zebra finch development
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Wild zebra finches are attracted towards acoustic cues from conspecific social groups
<p class="Normal1">Social information gathered by observing others often supplements personal information collected from direct interactions with the physical environment during decision making. Social information use may be particularly beneficial in harsh environments or if resources are distributed patchily, ephemeral and unpredictable, and hence difficult to locate. We experimentally tested the use of acoustic cues in wild zebra finches (<em>Taeniopygia guttata</em>) as they flew around their arid habitat as a way of locating conspecifics on the ground, and potentially accessing useful social information. Joining a conspecific group may reduce the predation risk, and if they are foraging may also improve foraging efficiency, as the distribution of zebra finch food (grass seed) is scattered and unpredictable in their natural habitat, the Australian arid zone. We conducted playback experiments along vegetated creek lines radiating out from an artificial dam where all birds in the population were coming for drinking water. We broadcast recordings of vocalizations from foraging conspecific groups to birds using these creek lines to move to or from the water into the wider habitat. Zebra finches were more likely to land near the loudspeaker when conspecific vocalizations were broadcast compared to white noise. Birds flying low and close to the loudspeaker were most likely to land. Our results indicate that zebra finches use acoustic cues of conspecifics as a source of social information for grouping decisions. Use of such information may also enhance foraging efficiency in environments with unpredictable and scarce foraging locations, and reduce predation risk for calling and responding individuals.</p>
Egg size is unrelated to ambient temperature in the opportunistically breeding zebra finch
In many birds, there is significant variation in egg size both across and within clutches that remains to be explained. Birds lay one egg per day and in hot climates, the first laid eggs may start to develop before the laying of the rest of the clutch is complete, through warming by the ambient air temperature. Here, we test the hypothesis that in hot conditions, skews in egg size across the laying sequence may be more pronounced, as females use egg size to compensate for hatching asynchrony, providing a higher level of provisioning to the later laid eggs that would hatch later due to ambient incubation. We have focused on the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), a species that typically breeds over an extended period of the year, and therefore across a particularly wide range of ambient temperatures. We characterised the variation in egg size using data from over 700 clutches, including historical specimens, a wild population, and both domesticated and wild birds breeding in captivity, in addition to clutches produced experimentally in controlled-temperature rooms. Here, we document significant variation in egg size between and within clutches, with eggs increasing in size over the laying order, with both maternal identity and population differences playing an important role (domesticated birds laid eggs that were much larger than their wild counterparts). However, we found no support for the idea that variation in egg size either within a clutch, and across clutches and populations, is related to variation in ambient temperature, despite the large range of thermal environments experienced during laying. In conclusion, whilst egg size is clearly a labile characteristic there is no evidence this is flexibly adjusted to local ambient temperatures before and during laying.
Dynamic changes in DNA methylation during postnatal development in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) exposed to different temperatures
<p>Epigenetic changes associated with early life conditions are known to play a significant role in shaping the adult phenotype. Studies of DNA methylation in wild animals are lacking, yet are important for understanding the fitness consequences of environmentally induced epigenetic change. In our study, we quantified variation in DNA methylation in wild, post-hatch zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata developing at seasonally variable temperatures in the Australian desert. We also compared variation in DNA methylation among captive zebra finch siblings raised in temperature controlled 'hot' or 'cool' rooms. We detected an increase in genome-wide levels of DNA methylation between day 3 and day 11 of post hatch development in wild zebra finches. In the wild, ambient temperatures were also found to affect genome-wide levels of DNA methylation and plasticity in the methylation state of individual loci. Family effects had a significant influence on DNA methylation throughout our study, and while we did not detect an effect of temperature on DNA methylation levels in non-related captive birds, our sibling pair analyses revealed that within families, elevated temperatures were associated with higher levels of DNA methylation. Our findings suggest a wide window in early development during which climatically induced variation in DNA methylation could occur. Further work is necessary to understand the potential for such variation to promote ecologically relevant variation in wild birds.</p>
Data from: Variable ambient temperature promotes song learning and production in zebra finches
<p>This data set contains the data used in the analysis of the article titled: Variable ambient temperature promotes song learning and production in zebra finches.</p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
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DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
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International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.