Research interest

The monogamous pair bond in birds represents a real partnership. Mates work as a team during chicks rearing and synchronize their activity. The monogamous pair bond in birds can thus be considered as an example of cooperative behaviour that relies on coordination between mates. Coordination and synchrony is reached by communication between the partners. The study of acoustic communication in monogamous birds is thus of high relevance to the understanding of monogamy and more generally of cooperative behaviours.

During my PhD project, I will study acoustic communication between songbird mates at crucial periods of coordination : nest building, incubation and chick rearing. I will study vocal communication at the nest between mates using a comparative approach. I will try to decipher how coordination in acoustic communication correlates with sex-role equality between mates during incubation and chick rearing. I will compare a species with high level of equality between mates, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), and a species with a female-biased work load, the great tit (Parus major).

Current Projects

My research project is entitled "Vocal communication at the nest between mates in songbirds".

This project is supervised by Clementine VIGNAL and Fanny RYBAK.

Collaborations


Teaching


Selected Publications