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Dive into the research topics where Jenélle L. Dowling is active.

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Featured researches published by Jenélle L. Dowling.


Emu | 2013

The form and function of duets and choruses in Red-backed Fairy-wrens

Jenélle L. Dowling; Michael S. Webster

Abstract In many avian species, both members of a pair or all members of a breeding group sing, often in duets or choruses. Previous studies indicate that duets often function in territorial defence. However, other potential functions, such as acoustic mate-guarding, need further study, because most species that have been studied have low or unknown rates of extra-pair paternity (EPP) and theoretical models predict species with moderate rates of EPP will guard more than those with very low or high rates. We conducted behavioural observations to describe the form of duets and test hypotheses for the function of duets in breeding groups of Red-backed Fairy-wrens (Malurus melanocephalus), a species with moderately high rates of EPP. Within duets, notes overlapped in frequency and time, rather than being antiphonally coordinated. Duets and choruses occurred more in pre-breeding than other stages of breeding, and more in inter-group than intra-group contexts, supporting a territorial defence function. Contrary to predictions of an acoustic mate-guarding function, males did not duet with mates more when they were fertile. Likewise, functions of breeding coordination and group establishment were not supported. Thus, Red-backed Fairy-wrens may use duets for territorial defence rather thanmate-guarding, despite their moderately high rates of EPP. Investigating how vocal behaviour varies across different mating systems allows us to test theoretical predictions and determine how mating system affects the evolution of signalling strategies in birds and other taxa.


Animal Behaviour | 2015

Variation in song system anatomy and androgen levels does not correspond to song characteristics in a tropical songbird

Hubert Schwabl; Jenélle L. Dowling; Daniel T. Baldassarre; Manfred Gahr; Willow R. Lindsay; Michael S. Webster

Variation in song structure and song production of birds are thought to relate to variation of both androgen levels and neural nuclei in the song system, as typically these nuclei are larger in males than in females, vary in size among males and are sensitive to steroid hormones. We investigated the relationships among song and note structure, singing rate, androgen levels and the sizes of two song nuclei, the higher vocal centre (HVC) and the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) in male and female red-backed fairy-wrens, Malurus melanocephalus. Males of this duetting species express three discrete reproductive phenotypes that differ in plumage colour and behaviour. Although HVC and RA structure differed between the sexes, there were no sex differences in note structure and complexity of songs, although females differed from some male types in song rate and frequency characteristics. Both auxiliary males and females had significantly lower androgen levels than the two breeding male phenotypes. Male reproductive phenotypes had similar song characteristics and HVC and RA structure, but differed in androgen levels. Sexes and male phenotypes varied in song rate, but these differences did not correspond to differences in androgen levels. Thus, sex differences in song nuclei anatomy and androgen levels were not associated with differences in song structure and singing rate; and, the differences in androgen levels among male phenotypes were not reflected in differences in singing rate, song structure or the song nuclei. We conclude that, similar to other recent findings, the sexes of the red-backed fairy-wren can produce similar song and express similar singing behaviour despite differences in song system structure and circulating androgen levels; singing and song system anatomy appear not to be part of the suite of traits associated with differences in androgen levels in male red-backed fairy-wrens.


The Auk | 2016

Vocal imitation of mother's calls by begging Red-backed Fairywren nestlings increases parental provisioning

Diane Colombelli-Négrel; Michael S. Webster; Jenélle L. Dowling; Mark E. Hauber; Sonia Kleindorfer

ABSTRACT Prenatal imitative learning is an emerging research area in both human and non-human animals. Previous studies in Superb Fairywrens (Malurus cyaneus) showed that mothers are vocal tutors to their embryos and that better imitation of maternal calls yields more parental provisions after hatching. To begin to test if such adaptive behavior is widespread amongst Australasian wrens in Maluridae, we investigated maternal in-nest calling patterns in Red-backed Fairywrens (Malurus melanocephalus). We first compared the structure of maternal and nestling call elements. Next, we examined how in-nest calling behavior varied with parental behaviors and ecological contexts (i.e. prevalence of brood parasitism and nest predation). All Red-backed Fairywren females called to their eggs during incubation and they continued to do so for several days after hatching at a lower rate. Embryos that received more calls per hour during the incubation period (but not the nestling period) developed into hatchlings with higher call element similarity between mother and young. Female call rate was mostly independent of nest predation but in years with more interspecific brood parasitism, nestling element similarity was greater and female call rates tended to be higher. Playback experiments showed that broods with higher element similarity to their mother received more successful feeds. The potential for prenatal tutoring and imitative begging calls in 2 related fairywren taxa sets the stage for a full-scale comparative analysis of the evolution and function of these behaviors across Maluridae and in other vocal-learning lineages.


Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution | 2016

Kin Signatures Learned in the Egg? Red-Backed Fairy-Wren Songs Are Similar to Their Mother's In-Nest Calls and Songs

Jenélle L. Dowling; Diane Colombelli-Négrel; Michael S. Webster

Many vocal animals recognize kin using vocal cues, in territorial contexts and in rearing young, but little is known about the developmental and evolutionary mechanisms that produce vocal kin recognition systems. In the cooperatively breeding red-backed fairy-wren (Malurus melanocephalus), females give specific “in-nest calls” while incubating their eggs. Elements from these calls are incorporated into chicks’ begging calls, and appear to be used by parents for recognition. This is likely a result of an embryo’s ability to learn the call elements in the egg. Here, we explore the idea that maternal vocal elements may be incorporated into offspring’s adult songs, and serve as signatures of kinship, which would aid in kin recognition and benefit signaler and receiver. To investigate this hypothesis, we tested for similarities between maternal vocal elements (in-nest calls and songs) and songs of their adult offspring. We then determined whether offspring songs were more similar to the maternal vocalizations they heard only as embryos (in-nest calls), or maternal songs they heard throughout development, but mostly post-fledge (mothers’ full songs). We used dynamic time warping to compare maternal vocal elements with elements in their offspring’s adult songs. The elements of each offspring were more similar to the elements of their own mother than to the elements of any other female (but only for the average similarity score), suggesting they may serve as kin signatures. We also found that offspring song elements were more similar to their mother’s song elements than to their mother’s in-nest call elements. In addition, female in-nest call elements were more similar to their own song elements than to the song elements of any other female. Offspring that produced song elements highly similar to their mother’s song elements also had song elements highly similar to their mother’s in-nest call elements. Signals of kinship may function critically for survival and successful reproduction, by allowing an individual to allocate care and defense to kin and to avoid mating with genetic relatives. Understanding the processes that facilitate effective kin recognition, including development of kin signatures, helps us to understand how these crucial signaling systems may have evolved.


Biology Letters | 2017

Working with what you've got: unattractive males show greater mate-guarding effort in a duetting songbird

Jenélle L. Dowling; Michael S. Webster

When mates are limited, individuals should allocate resources to mating tactics that maximize fitness. In species with extra-pair paternity (EPP), males can invest in mate guarding, or, alternatively, in seeking EPP. Males should optimize fitness by adjusting investment according to their attractiveness to females, such that attractive males seek EPP, and unattractive males guard mates. This theory has received little empirical testing, leaving our understanding of the evolution of mating tactics incomplete; it is unclear how a males relative attractiveness influences his tactics. We conducted observations and experiments on red-backed fairy-wrens (Malurus melanocephalus) to address this question. We found that older, more attractive (red–black) males sought EPP, whereas unattractive (brown) males invested in alternative tactics—physical and acoustic mate guarding. Younger red–black males used intermediate tactics. This suggests that males adopt mating tactics appropriate to their attributes. Males obtained similar reproductive success, suggesting these alternative tactics may maximize each males paternity gain. Though it is likely that female choice also determines paternity, rather than just male tactics, we establish that the many interconnected components of a males sexual phenotype influence the evolution of his decision-making rules, deepening our understanding of how mating tactics evolve under sexual selection.


The Auk | 2016

Subtle benefits of cooperation to breeding males of the Red-backed Fairywren

Ahva L. Potticary; Jenélle L. Dowling; Douglas G. Barron; Daniel T. Baldassarre; Michael S. Webster

ABSTRACT Cooperative breeding is a phenomenon whereby breeding and nonbreeding individuals collectively provision young. Nonbreeding group members (“helpers”) may gain indirect and/or direct fitness benefits by breeding in a group, but there has been conflicting evidence regarding the benefits to breeders. In fact, the presence of helpers may sometimes be detrimental to aspects of breeder fitness. For example, in some species of the chiefly Australian genus Malurus, breeding males with helpers have lower within-pair paternity than do males without helpers. Additionally, indirect benefits to breeding males are often limited by low relatedness to their helpers due to high extrapair paternity rates, and helpers often appear to have minimal impact on breeder reproductive success. However, the presence of helpers may allow breeding males to shift their behaviors from guarding and provisioning young to alternative behaviors that affect other components of fitness, such as extraterritory forays (which might increase extrapair mating success) and self-maintenance (which might increase survival). We investigated these possibilities in the facultatively cooperative Red-backed Fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus). Males with helpers spent significantly less time engaging in guarding behaviors and provisioning of young than did those without helpers, but there was no difference in the frequency of extrapair forays nor the number of young sired by males with vs. without helpers. Additionally, the decreased investment in nesting behaviors did not result in consistently higher survival, but may have increased survival in some years. Overall, the results of this study did not suggest any strong direct fitness benefits to breeding males, which may indicate that the costs of retaining helpers are negligible relative to the indirect benefits of helping a potentially related male.


Animal Behaviour | 2018

Acoustic and physical mate guarding have different effects on intruder behaviour in a duetting songbird

Jenélle L. Dowling; Michael S. Webster

When males compete for mates, they often defend paternity through mate guarding. In addition to physical guarding, in vocal species, especially duetting birds, individuals may duet with their mates in order to guard them. The acoustic mate-guarding hypothesis posits that duetting deters rivals. We experimentally tested the effectiveness of physical and acoustic mate guarding in a duetting songbird, the red-backed fairy-wren, Malurus melanocephalus, using a novel variation of a classic removal experiment. We temporarily removed males, such that females received either no guarding (mate removed), or only acoustic guarding (mate removed, his duet response played from speaker). We found that rival intrusion rates were highest when all guarding was prevented, slightly lower when only acoustic guarding occurred and lowest when pairs were unmanipulated, and both physical and acoustic guarding occurred. This suggests that both guarding techniques deter intruders, but acoustic guarding less so. Intruder display rate during removals was higher than in unmanipulated trials, regardless of acoustic guarding. Results suggest that acoustic guarding may function as a long-range signal that reduces the likelihood of rival intrusion, but physical guarding is necessary to prevent rivals from courting mates. We confirm that physical and acoustic mate guarding serve as important components of intruder deterrence, although they act at different levels. Our study broadens our understanding of multimodal paternity assurance strategies.


Behavioral Ecology | 2012

Comparative effects of urban development and anthropogenic noise on bird songs

Jenélle L. Dowling; David Luther; Peter P. Marra


Behavioral Ecology | 2016

An experimental test of duet function in a fairy-wren (Malurus) with moderate cuckoldry rates

Jenélle L. Dowling; Michael S. Webster


Australian Field Ornithology | 2018

Forest fire reduces dawn singing effort in a passerine bird

Cedar A. Mathers-Winn; Jenélle L. Dowling; Michael S. Webster

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David Luther

George Mason University

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Douglas G. Barron

University of South Florida

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Hubert Schwabl

Washington State University

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Peter P. Marra

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

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Willow R. Lindsay

Washington State University

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