Topic
Melopsittacus
About: Melopsittacus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 201 publications have been published within this topic receiving 3001 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
1 / 2
Papers
TL;DR: B budgerigars can learn calls as adults, and call type convergence is achieved through mutual vocal imitation of social companions, in the absence of social but not aural contact.
Abstract: Distance or contact calls of 6 unrelated adult male budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) were recorded before and during 8 weeks of social contact. The 6 birds were housed in 2 separate groups of 3 each in adjoining cages. Birds in each cage could hear but not see the birds in the neighboring cage. At the beginning of the study, none of the birds shared any contact call types. The first appearance of 1 bird's imitation of a cagemate's contact call type occurred after 1 week. Call type repertoires continued to change; some call types dropped out of the repertoires, and others were modified over time. Birds in the same cage shared the same dominant call type 8 weeks later, and the dominant call types differed between the 2 cages. Thus, budgerigars can learn calls as adults, and call type convergence is achieved through mutual vocal imitation of social companions. In the absence of social but not aural contact, vocal imitation was greatly reduced.
238 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that contact call imitation in adult budgerigars probably contributes to pair bond formation and maintenance and serves as a foundation for future studies on vocal learning in adult animals.
183 citations
TL;DR: Slight differences between juveniles and adults, little sexual dimorphism and few discrete calls suggests that the social organization of the Budgerigar is simple compared to that of the Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius.
Abstract: The Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus was studied in the field in eastern Australia. Flocks occurred throughout the year, during most diurnal activities and at most stages of the life cycle. Daily activity began about sunrise and ceased during dusk. It consisted of feeding in the morning and afternoon and resting and preening in the foliage of trees during the middle of the day. Birds drank intermittently and at no specific time of the day. Different ages and sexes mixed in flocks and there was no obvious hierarchical construction nor high- and low-status groups within flocks or popula- tions. At times, flocks occurred that were composed predominantly of young birds. Eight discrete calls were identified. Slight differences between juveniles and adults, little sexual dimorphism and few discrete calls suggests that the social organization of the Budgerigar is simple compared to that of the Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius. Behaviour of birds in the field is compared to that described from studies of domestic birds in cages.
110 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that female budgerigars learn new vocalizations more slowly than males do, and this rate of convergence is slower than that observed in prior experiments limited to male birds, and much slower than vocal imitation by male budgerIGars paired with females.
Abstract: The budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) is a promising model species for the study of adult vocal learning. To date, several studies have confirmed the existence of vocal plasticity and, more importantly, rapid imitation of contact calls by adult male budgerigars. Vocal learning has not been investigated in female budgerigars, however. Since one likely function of the contact call is to denote group affiliation, we tested the hypothesis that female budgerigars, when placed into groups, would develop a shared contact call. We recorded the contact call repertoires of eight adult female budgerigars that were unfamiliar with one another, then placed them into two groups. Each group was deprived of visual contact with other birds. Recording sessions continued for the subsequent 8 wks, and behavioral observations were also conducted during this time. Within 4-7 wks, females in both groups converged on a common call type. This rate of convergence is slower than that observed in prior experiments limited to male birds, and much slower than vocal imitation by male budgerigars paired with females. Therefore, while our study documents vocal plasticity in adult female budgerigars, it also suggests that female budgerigars learn new vocalizations more slowly than males do.
96 citations
TL;DR: Perception of faces by 4 budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), a species of small parrot, was studied with a same-different discrimination task to provide a basis for understanding the ways in which these signals function in the coordination of social behaviors.
Abstract: Perception of faces by 4 budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), a species of small parrot, was studied with a same-different discrimination task. Reaction times were taken as a measure of the similarity between pairs of faces and analyzed with multidimensional scaling to reveal patterns of similarity among the faces. The perception of natural faces was tested to determine which characteristics were perceptually salient. Color, patterns of markings, darkness of the iris, and size of the pupil corresponded to the observed patterns of similarity among the faces. Differences among budgerigar faces were more salient than differences among zebra finch faces, and budgerigar faces were perceptually distinct from the faces of other avian species. The results from these experiments provide a basis for understanding the ways in which these signals function in the coordination of social behaviors.
72 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 |
| 2024 | 16 |
| 2023 | 20 |
| 2022 | 25 |
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2020 | 7 |