Mahima Gautam

Abstract Many songbirds begin their song bouts with introductory notes (INs). In some songbird species like rufous-sided towhees and white-crowned sparrows, INs are believed to function in communication, to alert conspecifics about song onset or as a signal for species identification, but it is unclear whether this function is conserved in other species. Here, we addressed this question using the zebra finch, a well-studied songbird.