Yellow Cardinal Gubernatrix cristata males’ respond more strongly to local than to foreign dialects

FRACAS, PABLO ANDRÉS; ROJAS RIPARI, JUAN MANUEL; MAHLER, BETTINA; DOMÍNGUEZ, MARISOL

IBIS

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2023

0019-1019

Bird song is a culturally transmitted behavioural trait strongly tied to territory defenceand mate attraction in oscine passerines. Random variants in songs can appear in differentpopulations of the same species as a consequence of multiple factors, and when they endurein time, they are defined as dialects. Most studies show that males react more strongly towardslocal dialects as a by-product of evolutionary divergence between populations. Females areassumed to resemble this response as it may lead to greater reproductive success. In thiscontext, song may become a prezygotic barrier for reproduction. The Yellow Cardinal(Gubernatrix cristata) is an endangered species of the South American thorny shrubland thathas suffered from population fragmentation due to habitat destruction and its capture for theillegal wildlife trade. Genetically different groups that sing their own dialect have been studiedin the context of a conservation program that intends to restore and preserve naturalpopulations by releasing individuals that are recovered from the illegal pet market back intotheir area of origin. Although dialects have been identified, it remains unknown whether thereis vocal recognition between the populations. In this study, we performed playbackexperiments in two populations and found that male Yellow Cardinals react more strongly tothe local dialect, although the foreign dialect is still recognized. This information is importantas it is not always possible to genetically assign an individual to its geographical origin beforerelease, which could contribute to a secondary contact scenario where dialects play a criticalrole for settlement and reproduction.