Bengalí camerunés

Taxonomía

Nombre científico

Vidua camerunensis

Autoridad

(Grote, 1922)

Orden

Passeriformes

Familia

Vídridos

Género

Vidua

Distribución y hábitat

Migración

Resident species

Comportamiento

Cameroon indigobirds are known for song determination and mimicking the songs of other bird species. The males pick which songs to mimic; however, when one male chooses a song from a host bird, the other males mimic other songs from a different host species. This is an effective way to differentiate males when mimicking the songs. There are several distinct host species that the indigobirds mimic from; the most common are the black-bellied firefinch (Lagonosticta rara) and African firefinch (L. rubricata).<p>The variation in how indigobirds mimic different songs is based on the host species. Researchers have thought that because different indigobird species sing different songs, they must be reproductively isolated. However, when a paternity test was done between the different species, it was found that the birds were not reproductively isolated. They concluded that indigobirds switch songs among several different hosts, but that this switching does not mean that the species are biologically different. In fact, they are very much related to one another in which they are not isolated from other species. Reproductive isolation cannot be determined just by the shifts of song mimicry from different hosts.<p>The indigobirds also use song mimicry for sexual and natural selection. Male indigobirds are most territorial and aggressive when they hear their own song or the host song that they mimic. These birds know and recognize which song is the one they mimic, compared to what other species mimic. For natural selection, it is in the bird's favor to mimic another song compared to other species. They save resources because they do not have to fight with others to mark their territory, thus decreasing their aggressiveness. As for sexual selection, females are attracted to males that master the art of mimicry. A female decides to mate with the male who sings the song that is most known to the females. The eggs are laid in another host's nest instead of their own.<p>Song discrimination is also very important in the young. They learn to sing and mimic songs in their sensitive period. It is very important in establishing their mimicry for the best fit in natural selection and reproduction with sexual selection.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional

stable