Agonistic song rate positively correlates with male breeding success and avian malaria infection in a promiscuous songbird with female-only parental care

Agonistic song rate positively correlates with male breeding success and avian malaria infection in a promiscuous songbird with female-only parental care | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Agonistic song rate positively correlates with male breeding success and avian malaria infection in a promiscuous songbird with female-only parental care Justyna Kubacka, Anna Dubiec, Larissa Souza Arantes, Magdalena Herdegen-Radwan, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2591985/v3 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Sep, 2024 Read the published version in Ornithology → Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract The link between male song and reproductive success has been explored at length in socially monogamous birds, but results were inconsistent and under-represented socially non-monogamous species with uniparental care. Here, we evaluated whether metrics of male song in the aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola , a promiscuous songbird with female-only care and large repertoires, are associated with fitness- and quality-related traits. We showed that the number of 9-day-old nestlings fathered and probability of avian malaria infection increased with the rate of agonistic song, produced in male-male interactions, and that male scaled mass index (proxy for energy reserves) positively correlated with the repertoire size. The male breeding success was not explained by repertoire size and song duty cycle. None of the song variables clearly explained the male return rate or change in the tarsus length (proxy for structural body size) and scaled mass index of the fathered chicks between days 2 and 9 post-hatch. No other relationships between the song characteristics and the inbreeding coefficient, scaled mass index, wing-length and Trypanosoma infection status of the males were supported, and Plasmodium infection was unrelated to the song duty cycle and repertoire size. We conclude that in male aquatic warblers the repertoire size could be a signal of early developmental stress or current body condition, and the agonistic song rate could be shaped by sexual selection and signal to females a genetic makeup that enhances survival upon infection by Plasmodium . Evolutionary Biology agonistic song breeding success nestling growth Plasmodium song duty cycle song repertoire Trypanosoma Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files AWSongFitnessSOMOrnithologyrev1v3.docx Supplementary Material Online Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Sep, 2024 Read the published version in Ornithology → Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-2591985","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":242614937,"identity":"58c16ba0-c1a1-4036-b7cf-579c844730a0","order_by":0,"name":"Justyna Kubacka","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA5klEQVRIie3PMQrCMBSA4VcEp1bXikKvkFKok3iVlkJdutuhQ5xcUlwVLyEIXU0JdHJ26VJxdXHrIhpEUUGTVTA/hJCQD14AVKofTCPQ5JsHbdAwfVzS7+CFdPCTgJCAfifo9ZmQNMjWreoktJwdm+Q1MAtRg4oHS0nfJkVkZ6WPqQnMXtGWJyYz3TUNHGs3gqDUMqojKemccTxcLznxoBzKSUrcroEjf9XlhELpywkpxk6vCIM5HyzH6BJsmOQvNgmy/TEJBrPl6HCq43CwmKZ5JST47Yj4augiAGB9uJMQlUql+ruutzpVKDZOrqoAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1211-8324","institution":"Museum and Institute of Zoology Polish Academy of Sciences: Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Justyna","middleName":"","lastName":"Kubacka","suffix":""},{"id":242614938,"identity":"8387beb5-7d0a-4e32-a887-79d1918b1174","order_by":1,"name":"Anna Dubiec","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Museum and Institute of Zoology Polish Academy of Sciences: Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anna","middleName":"","lastName":"Dubiec","suffix":""},{"id":242614939,"identity":"c54bb4e8-2882-41e7-8622-fd3941bcaedc","order_by":2,"name":"Larissa Souza Arantes","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research: Leibniz-Institut fur Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW) im Forschungsverbund Berlin eV","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Larissa","middleName":"Souza","lastName":"Arantes","suffix":""},{"id":242614940,"identity":"c0e02c3b-f78d-4d67-b982-bbb2043c0853","order_by":3,"name":"Magdalena Herdegen-Radwan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Adam Mickiewicz University Faculty of Biology: Uniwersytet im Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu Wydzial Biologii","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Magdalena","middleName":"","lastName":"Herdegen-Radwan","suffix":""},{"id":242614941,"identity":"57b9f843-9e77-462a-b1dc-092f7ab9f724","order_by":4,"name":"Camila Mazzoni","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research: Leibniz-Institut fur Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW) im Forschungsverbund Berlin eV","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Camila","middleName":"","lastName":"Mazzoni","suffix":""},{"id":242614942,"identity":"ce9e4e36-7435-482a-8b9e-39639e5dc3d2","order_by":5,"name":"Sarah Sparmann","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries: Leibniz-Institut fur Gewasserokologie und Binnenfischerei","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sarah","middleName":"","lastName":"Sparmann","suffix":""},{"id":242614943,"identity":"6e45ac4d-1255-4e8c-a6cb-0b56d55cd06c","order_by":6,"name":"Tomasz Stanisław Osiejuk","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Adam Mickiewicz University Faculty of Biology: Uniwersytet im Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu Wydzial Biologii","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tomasz","middleName":"Stanisław","lastName":"Osiejuk","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-02-15 19:17:51","currentVersionCode":3,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2591985/v3","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2591985/v3","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukae045","type":"published","date":"2024-09-13T00:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":55384647,"identity":"20ce932d-4926-4f3a-8d9b-e008ac19e28b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-26 14:28:42","extension":"jpeg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1337691,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSonograms illustrating male song of the aquatic warbler, with A-songs built of single rattle phrases, B-songs built of single rattles and single whistles, and C-songs built of more than two phrase units\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig1APALsongsv2.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2591985/v3/47c619c7f2dbcf99eb97c823.jpeg"},{"id":55385174,"identity":"47649b7c-ee59-439b-bc4d-73887ce9388a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-26 14:36:42","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":76709,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ea\u003c/strong\u003eThe probability to score zero 9-day-old offspring by male aquatic warblers in the study plots, as a function of the number of encounters in these plots. The curve shows the zero model fit based on the top model (see Table 1a and SOM Table S2), and the shaded area represents the 95% confidence interval of the fit. The circles represent the raw data and their size is proportional to the number of occurrences\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eb\u003c/strong\u003e The relationship between the A-song rate of male aquatic warblers and their number of 9-day-old offspring produced in the study plots. The curve represents the count model fit based on the top model (see Table 1a and SOM Table S2), and the shaded area denotes the 95% confidence interval of the fit. The circles represent raw data\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2591985/v3/e81a6db826d8acf83d6a8f69.png"},{"id":55384648,"identity":"d6e0ea5d-077b-4039-8ce8-2722fa8dbd00","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-26 14:28:42","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":56632,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ea \u003c/strong\u003eThe repertoire size of aquatic warbler males as a function of scaled mass index (SMI; both standardised by two standard deviations). The curve shows model-averaged predicted response, and the bands denote the 95% confidence interval. The open circles represent raw data points\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eb\u003c/strong\u003e The A-song rate (standardised by two standard deviations) of aquatic warbler males as a function of \u003cem\u003ePlasmodium \u003c/em\u003einfection status. The green filled circles show model-averaged predicted response, and the whiskers denote the 95% confidence interval. The open circles represent raw data points\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2591985/v3/f0dc3eb785aabbd2ef13f284.png"},{"id":55384646,"identity":"5ecd5b79-d86c-4d16-9025-84caac27872d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-26 14:28:42","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":57685,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSupplementary Material Online\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"AWSongFitnessSOMOrnithologyrev1v3.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2591985/v3/9abe7c66e11da08f76e71dc3.docx"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eAgonistic song rate positively correlates with male breeding success and avian malaria infection in a promiscuous songbird with female-only parental care\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"agonistic song, breeding success, nestling growth, Plasmodium, song duty cycle, song repertoire, Trypanosoma","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2591985/v3","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2591985/v3","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe link between male song and reproductive success has been explored at length in socially monogamous birds, but results were inconsistent and under-represented socially non-monogamous species with uniparental care. Here, we evaluated whether metrics of male song in the aquatic warbler \u003cem\u003eAcrocephalus paludicola\u003c/em\u003e, a promiscuous songbird with female-only care and large repertoires, are associated with fitness- and quality-related traits. We showed that the number of 9-day-old nestlings fathered and probability of avian malaria infection increased with the rate of agonistic song, produced in male-male interactions, and that male scaled mass index (proxy for energy reserves) positively correlated with the repertoire size. The male breeding success was not explained by repertoire size and song duty cycle. None of the song variables clearly explained the male return rate or change in the tarsus length (proxy for structural body size) and scaled mass index of the fathered chicks between days 2 and 9 post-hatch. No other relationships between the song characteristics and the inbreeding coefficient, scaled mass index, wing-length and \u003cem\u003eTrypanosoma\u003c/em\u003e infection status of the males were supported, and \u003cem\u003ePlasmodium\u003c/em\u003e infection was unrelated to the song duty cycle and repertoire size. We conclude that in male aquatic warblers the repertoire size could be a signal of early developmental stress or current body condition, and the agonistic song rate could be shaped by sexual selection and signal to females a genetic makeup that enhances survival upon infection by \u003cem\u003ePlasmodium\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Agonistic song rate positively correlates with male breeding success and avian malaria infection in a promiscuous songbird with female-only parental care","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":3,"date":"2024-04-26 14:28:37","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2591985/v3","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":2,"date":"2023-10-24 22:00:42","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2591985/v2","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":1,"date":"2023-03-06 16:05:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2591985/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b5bbf1f4-7ed1-45de-a09d-eb8f7cd4e1bc","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 26th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":25625707,"name":"Evolutionary Biology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-09-18T13:29:08+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-2591985","link":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukae045","journal":{"identity":"ornithology","isVorOnly":true,"title":"Ornithology"},"publishedOn":"2024-09-13 00:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"September 13th, 2024"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-04-26 14:28:37","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1093/ornithology/ukae045","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukae045","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v3","identity":"rs-2591985","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-2591985","identity":"rs-2591985","version":["v3"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}