Animal contests govern access to key resources and are a fundamental determinant of
fitness within populations. Little is known about the mechanisms generating individual …

Highlights•We summarize current definitions of 'cumulative cultural evolution'(CCE).•We
suggest areas where CCE may apply to socially learned vocal communication.•We use …

Learning reflects the influence of experience on genetically determined circuitry, but little is
known about how experience and genetics interact to determine complex learned …

Studies of trilled vocalizations provide a premiere illustration of how performance constraints
shape the evolution of mating displays. In trill production, vocal tract mechanics impose a …

Mating signals of many animal species are difficult to produce and thus should indicate
signaler quality. Growing evidence suggests that receivers modulate their behaviour in …

Highlights•We introduce a new method for quantifying vocal performance,'frequency
excursion'.•We apply this method to sample questions about vocal performance in three …

Highlights•We analysed house finch songs from three years spanning four decades in New
York.•We compared real data against simulations to make inferences about cultural …

Bird song is the primary animal model system for cultural evolution. Longitudinal studies of
bird song across many generations can provide insights into patterns and mechanisms of …

Highlights•I respond to Donald Kroodsma's critique of the performance hypothesis.•
Specifically, that trill rate and frequency bandwidth reliably indicate singer quality.•I highlight …

Oscine songbirds have been an important study system for social learning, particularly
because their learned songs provide an analog for human languages and music. Here, we …