Female zebra finches prefer the songs of males who quickly solve a novel
foraging task to the songs of males unable to solve the task
Abstract
Correlative evidence suggests that high problem-solving and foraging
abilities in a mate are associated with direct fitness advantages, so it
would benefit females to prefer problem-solving males. Recent work has
also shown that females of several bird species who directly observe
males prefer those that can solve a novel foraging task over those that
cannot. In addition to or instead of direct observation of cognitive
skills, many species utilize assessment signals when choosing a mate.
Here we test whether females can select a problem-solving male over a
non-solving male when presented only with a signal known to be used in
mate assessment: song. Using an operant conditioning assay, we compared
female zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) preference for the songs of
males that could quickly solve a novel foraging task to the songs of
males that could not solve the task. Females were never housed with the
test subject males whose song they heard, and the only information
provided about the males was their song. We found that females elicited
more songs of problem-solving males than of non-solvers, indicating that
song can contain information about a male’s ability to solve a novel
foraging task and that naïve females prefer the songs of problem-solving
males.