Song learning from playback in zebra finches: is there an effect of operant contingency?

Social interaction is often regarded as crucial for song copying in zebra f inches, Taeniapygia guttata. Contingencies in the interaction between pupil and tutor might be essential. for the song-copying process. The effect of contingency between a pupil's operant behaviour and tutor song has been stu died previously, but with contradictory results. Our aim in this experiment was to provide a more rigorous test of the effect of operant contingent ex posure to song playback in zebra finches. Eight experimental males were tra ined to expose themselves to tutor song by operant key pecking during their sensitive phase for song learning. Each bird had a yoked control, which he ard the same tutor song at the same time. All birds were acoustically isola ted. The results were surprising in two ways: (1) the control birds copied song to which they were passively exposed; and (2) the experimental birds d id not copy more than the controls did. So, we found no effect of operant c ontingency on song learning. Furthermore, when tested as adults all but one male preferred the tutor song to an unfamiliar one. We conclude that zebra finches can copy playback song, and that social interaction is not crucial for song copying, although it might still be facilitating. (C) 1999 The As sociation for the Study of Animal Behaviour.