Intersexual song answering in Red-winged Blackbirds

Abstract

Female Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) answer their mates' songs with their own songs. Field observations were conducted to determine the extent of song-answering behavior during the Red-winged Blackbird breeding season and to test the hypothesis that song answering in this species is primarily a sexual communication. Females answered significant percentages of their mates' songs during the prenesting and incubation phases of the breeding season, but answering rates declined during the latter phases. Females tended to answer mates when the males were engaged in sexual activities, providing support for the idea that song answering in this species functions in intrapair communication.