Vocal communication in an avian hybrid zone

Abstract

Avian vocalizations function in mate attraction and territorial defence. Vocalizations can act as behavioural barriers and play an important role in speciation processes. Hybrid zones illustrate behavioural barriers are not always impermeable and provide a natural laboratory to examine the role of vocalizations in the causes and consequences of hybridization. This thesis examines a hybrid zone between two species of African doves: the vinaceous (Streptopelia vinacea) and ring-necked dove (S.capicola) by investigating its composition and history with molecular techniques, the mechanisms underlying the variation in dove coos and the response to hybrid signals within and outside the hybrid zone. The variation in hybrid signals and the possibility of learning which vocalizations to respond to can play an important role in facilitating further introgression between the two species.