Behavioural
Ecology Group


Communication and resilience in an unpredictable world



Research on zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) in the wild, in the Australian Outbacks





In this ecological field research we study the communication underlying breeding decisions in wild zebra finches who breed under varying and unpredictable conditions. Zebra finches are the best-studied avian model organism in the lab for behaviour, mate choice, life history decisions, and the function of male song. Yet, there is very little information about the communication process when making breeding decisions. Within the framework initially started by NWO ALW open competition grant we continue to determine the nature of the song communication system, the spatial and social behaviour as well as the breeding ecology of zebra finches under the extreme and variable ecological conditions of the Australian Outbacks.


One specific question, which we address is the social organization of the multiple level societies as well as the function of male song. Zebra finches move around in pairs and regularly form smaller groups during foraging or at specific social hangout bushes. Thus, using automated solar radio-tracking we aim to determine how pairs stay together and how the overall society is organized in terms of individual connections beyond the pair bond. Sicen zebra finch song and calls have strong individual signatures we predict that birds use the vocalizations in facilitating such individual relations. Birdsong generally is the best studied animal communication system, yet the singing behaviour is puzzling in this prime avian model organism. Unlike most temperate zone songbirds, zebra finches are not territorial and males, being 'faithfully' paired with a female and with very low occurrence of extra-pair matings, sing mostly after pair formation. Thus the common interpretation that birdsong functions in territorial defence and mate attraction does not explain singing raising broader question on the functions and evolution of birdsong.

Department Impact Story Highlight


MSc students who are interested in joining the field work (or data analyses), please contact me!!


Cooperating partner: Simon Griffith (Macquarie University, Sydney, AUS);

Researcher: Hugo Loning, Chris Tyson

PhD student Noelle Tschirren

Field work at: Fowlers Gap Research Station in NSW, Australia





publications



  • Loning, H., Griffith, S.C., Naguib, M. (2024) The ecology of zebra finch song and its implications for vocal communication in multi-level societies. In: The power of sound: unravelling how acoustic communication shapes group dynamics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 379, 20230191
  • Naguib, M., ter Avest, E. , Tyson, C. , Whiting, M. J. , Griffith, S. C. , Loning, H. (2024) High nest failure in a zebra finch population and persistent nest predation by a monitor lizard. Ecology and Evolution 14, e11281.
  • Loning, H. Fragueira, R., Naguib, M., Griffith, S. C. (2023) Hanging out in the outback: the use of social hotspots by wild zebra finches. Journal of Avian Biology 11-12, e03140.
  • Loning, H., Verkade, L., Griffith, S. C., Naguib, M. (2023) The social function of song in wild zebra finches. Current Biology 33, 372-380.
  • Loning, H., Griffith, S. C. & Naguib, M. (2022) Zebra finch song is a very short-range signal in the wild: evidence from an integrated approach. Behavioral Ecology, 33, 37-46.
  • Adrian, C., Griffith, S.C., Naguib, M., Schuett, W. (2022) Wild zebra finches are attracted towards acoustic cues from conspecific social groups. Behavioral Ecology 33, 556-564.

Within this field project, we also showed, in contrast to previous claims, that females do not produce evolved 'heat call's specifically during incubation to to program the embryos in the egg to hot climate.

  • McDiarmid, C.S., Naguib, M., Griffith, S. C. (2018) Calling in the heat: the zebra finch ‘incubation call’ depends on heat but not reproductive stage. Behavioural Ecology, 29, 1245-1254.


Prior research on zebra finches by us:

In our previous work used zebra finches, funded by ASAB and the German Research Council, as model organism in the lab. Here, we used them (e,g, Naguib et al 2004; Krause an d Naguib 2014, Honarmand et al 2015, 2017), to determine the effects of developmental stress during different discrete stages in development on a range of behavioural traits, life history and reproductive success, also across several generations. This project has important implications in both animal welfare and evolutionary ecology in more general terms, since it allows to trace adult behavioural and life history traits to the conditions experienced during early development. The results thus contribute to our general understanding of non-genetic (epigenetic) effects on phenotypic variation within and across generations. The topics of these earlier lab studies also contribute to the current field project in the Australian Outbacks (see above), where zebra finches have to cope with variable and challenging environmental conditions.


Previous Phd Students: Mariam Honarmand, Tobias Krause







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