Birdsong serves to attract females and to deter territorial rivals.
Individual recognition plays a crucial role in the territorial song function and it has been shown for many songbird species (as well as other taxa) that territorial neighbours reduce their aggression towards each other once territorial disputes have been settled (‘dear enemy effect’), as neighbours usually pose less of a threat to the own territory than strangers. In skylarks (Alauda arvensis), a songbird with a large and complex song repertoire, phrases that are shared within neighbours, serve as a group signature and such phrases allow the birds to discriminate between neighbours and strangers. It remains an open question how such shared phrases are established within a group of territorial birds. To answer this question, we will record the song of skylarks of a given neighbourhood throughout the breeding season and characterize seasonal variation in the proportion of shared phrases. This stage will involve field work and the application of state-of-the-art bioacoustic recording equipment.
Furthermore, the student will get insights into bioacoustic analysis and will get familiar with the behaviour of the model species.
We are looking for a highly motivated person, who is fit for and eager to conduct field work. Fluency in English is highly welcome.
If you are interested, please send me an email with your CV.
Best wishes,
Nicole Geberzahn
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Nicole Geberzahn
Equipe Communications Acoustiques
CNPS CNRS UMR 8195
Université Paris Sud - Bâtiment 446
91405 Orsay Cedex
France
email: nicole.geberzahn@u-psud.fr or geberzahn@gmail.com phone +33 169157273