Faculty Mentor(s)

Dr. Kelly Ronald, Biology

Document Type

Poster

Event Date

4-12-2024

Abstract

Many birds receive both visual and auditory signals in mate selection, such as plumage color and song differences within conspecifics, which has implications for behavioral and communication processes. This processing of stimuli from different systems as a combined signal is also known as multimodal sensory processing. Sex hormone levels correlating with reproduction efforts vary seasonally in temperate animals, leading to changes in sensory processing as well. As the seasons progress, sex hormones (i.e. estrogen and testosterone) fluctuate, and an increase or decrease in these hormones has shown an impact on hearing in songbird species, however, less is known about the mechanism of hormone influence on visual processing. Songbirds demonstrate differences in both auditory communications (i.e., songs) and visual displays (e.g. plumage) across seasons. Our study focuses on the house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), a sexually dimorphic songbird residing across an urbanization gradient. House finches are sexually dimorphic songbirds, meaning there is a phenotypic difference in the appearance of the sexes, such that male house finches have red plumage while females have brown plumage. The combination of visual plumage displays and auditory song communication influencing mate choice makes house finches an ideal model organism to examine the effects of seasonality on multimodal sensory processing. To explore seasonal differences we will be measuring auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) to test hearing, electroretinograms (ERGs) to test vision, and sex hormone levels in the blood. We hypothesize that seasonality will significantly affect auditory and visual processing in house finches, such that we will see increased levels of hearing and vision during the breeding season, allowing for increased communication and ease of finding mates. These results will contribute to a further understanding of seasonality and its effects on multimodal sensory processing in a novel species.

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