The Meaning of the Full Song of the Blackbird Turdus merula to Untreated and Estradiol Treated Females

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Abstract
Blackbird females kept in long-day conditions (untreated) and later estradiol implanted were stimulated by the full song of the male in playback experiments in an anechoic chamber. In each experiment the song was broadcast with increasing sound pressure. In untreated females, playback initially caused ongoing behaviour to stop. The birds then gradually started to hop around and emit different calls, and nest site prospecting behaviour increased. In estradiol treated females, playback caused the birds to react in the same way as untreated birds, and in addition true nest building behaviour was either started, or resumed and enhanced, or the birds showed copulation displays or sang. As not observed in the field, female singing is regarded as a side-effect of the unnatural cage situation. The remaining behaviour patterns all occur naturally and show that the male song communicates to the female a message concerning readiness to court and copulate.