THE ROLE OF AGGRESSION IN SONG TUTOR CHOICE IN THE ZEBRA FINCH - CAUSE OR EFFECT

Young male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) normally copy their son g from one tutor when given a choice of two. Interaction is known to b e a key feature of the learning process and this study examines the wa y in which one particular type of social behaviour, aggression, may af fect tutor choice. Female raised zebra finches were given a choice of two song tutors, which had been pre-selected for differing levels of a ggression, during the sensitive phase for song learning. A young bird was significantly more likely to learn from the tutor that was more ag gressive to him, as found earlier by Clayton (1987). In addition, beha vioural observations suggest that aggression towards the young bird wa s the cause rather than an effect of tutor choice. There was no signif icant relationship between the relative level of tutor aggression and the amount of his song copied. Changes in the level of aggression over the tutoring period are also discussed.