Vocal consistency is associated with auditory perceptual ability in a songbird

Abstract

Summary Vocal learning in songbirds is often considered a domain-specific ability. Whether song also reflects general cognitive ability remains debated, and direct behavioral evidence linking vocal production and auditory perception ability remains limited. Here, we investigated whether vocal production relates to auditory perceptual learning in adult wild-caught black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). We recorded the “fee-bee” songs and quantified vocal consistency (faithful reproduction of songs across renditions) using spectrogram, spectral contour, and amplitude envelope correlations. The subject birds were tested on a perceptual discrimination task based on the individual identity of the stimulus birds, with trials to criterion and the final discrimination asymptote slope as learning performance measures. Vocal consistency was strongly associated with overall vocal perceptual learning performance. Amplitude consistency could be related to discrimination learning and pitch consistency to generalization of the learning task. Together, the findings provide some behavioral evidence for the modular nature of auditory cognitive abilities in songbirds.