Song Repertoires and Lifetime Reproductive Success in the Great Tit (Parus major)

Abstract

We recorded the song repertoires of breeding male great tits during six successive seasons and tested for correlations between repertoire size and reproductive success. Males with larger repertoires are more likely to survive to breed in a second season. They are also more likely to father offspring which survive to breed. Lifetime reproductive success appears to be highest for males with intermediate-sized repertoires. Males with larger repertoires produce heavier fledglings, and this may be related to territory quality.