ISSN:
1420-9071
Keywords:
Bengalese finch
;
birdsong
;
directed song
;
undirected song
;
maturational process
;
fecal steroid hormone
;
testosterone dependency
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract The male Bengalese finch,Lonchura striata, has two types of song behaviour (directed song, DS and undirected song, US). DS and US share a basically identical syllable repertoire, sequence pattern and tempo, but differ in the time course of appearance during the maturational process. In order to examine whether this results from a difference in testosterone (T) dependency, we studied developmental changes in the fecal T level and the amounts of DS and US during the 2–4 month period (N=7). DS appeared between 83 and 94 days of age, 4–16 days after a rise in the fecal T level. In contrast, US appeared earlier and at high frequency even when T was still at a very low level. These results suggest that DS is more dependent on the T level than US, and is not activated until the T level rises during the maturational process.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01923490
