Effect of Tracheosyringeal Nerve Section on Sexually Dimorphic Distance Calls in Bengalese Finches (Lonchura striata var. domestica)

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In Bengalese finches, adult male distance calls are narrow-banded in the spectral domain and continuous in the time domain while female calls are wide-banded and pulsed. To examine the degree of syringeal control on this sexually dimorphic behavior, the nerve bundle from the hypoglossal nucleus to the syrinx was cut unilaterally in adult birds under deep Nembutal anesthesia. The sexual dimorphism in the time-amplitude profile of the distance calls did not disappear by cutting neither the left nor the right nerve. On the other hand, the sex difference in the spectral domain of the distance call became more ambiguous by cutting the left nerve but only minor effect was observed by cutting the right nerve. Results suggest that only spectral information is conveyed by the tracheosyringeal nerves and calls of the both sexes are actively controlled by the left tracheosyringeal nerve. Some of these results are in contrast with the zebra finch whose right tracheosyringeal nerve is dominant over the left and the female call does not change by the nerve cut operation.
1995-12-15