Aggressive response to "self" songs by female Red-winged Blackbirds, Agelaius phoeniceus

Abstract

Female Red-winged Blackbirds responded aggressively to audio playback of their own ("self") songs and to "stranger" female songs. Response behaviors measured were song rate and approach to the loudspeaker. The aggressive responses of the females provided supportive evidence for the existence of female redwing territoriality, for the establishment of exclusive female "subterritories" on the male redwing's larger territory, and for the equivalency of function between typical male passerine "territorial" songs and one of the female redwings' song types.