---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '20986'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: During complex vocal interactions, different features of acoustic stimuli
    are integrated to produce appropriate vocal responses,1 such as copying sounds
    during vocal matching behavior in some animals.2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 However,
    little is known about the interplay and possible trade-offs between the different
    temporal and spectral acoustic features during these vocal exchanges.2,13,14 Nightingales
    can flexibly match the pitch of their tonal “whistle songs” in real time during
    counter-singing duels.15,16 Here, we show that the syllable duration of whistle
    playbacks could alter the song responses of wild nightingales, causing their whistle
    duration distribution to shift toward the presented stimulus duration. When exposed
    to whistle playbacks featuring unnatural combinations of pitch and duration, nightingales
    demonstrate a flexible trade-off between pitch matching and temporal imitation,
    yet they are constrained by their vocal repertoire. They selectively adapted their
    vocal responses to approximate these novel stimuli, aligning them with their natural
    whistle repertoire. We developed a computational model of nightingale whistle-matching
    behavior that revealed a hierarchical organization of acoustic feature production.
    During whistle matching, the feature integration process is constrained by the
    duration of syllables, and pitch matching follows within this temporal framework,
    forcing a trade-off between the two features. Our findings reveal a complex interplay
    between the spectral and temporal domains that shapes song-matching behavior.
acknowledgement: 'We would like to thank J. Benichov and N. Hein for their help with
  fieldwork; M. Ramadas for helping with the segmentation analysis; T. Eliav, C. Chintaluri,
  G. Tkacik, and A. Navas for providing helpful comments to the project and manuscript;
  and A. Costalunga for the drawings of nightingales. Funding sources: The Joachim
  Herz Stiftung Add-on Fellowships for Interdisciplinary Life Science, awarded to
  G.C.; the ERC Consolidator Grant 819603 SYNAPSEEK, awarded to T.P.V.; and DFG Research
  Unit 5768–532521431, DFG Research Grant-547921981, DFG SFB 1315–327654276, and the
  ERC Starting Grant 757459 MIDNIGHT, awarded to D.V.'
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Juan Sebastian
  full_name: Calderon Garcia, Juan Sebastian
  id: 1271b54b-dbcd-11ea-9d1d-d92da838fe2c
  last_name: Calderon Garcia
- first_name: Giacomo
  full_name: Costalunga, Giacomo
  last_name: Costalunga
- first_name: Tim P
  full_name: Vogels, Tim P
  id: CB6FF8D2-008F-11EA-8E08-2637E6697425
  last_name: Vogels
  orcid: 0000-0003-3295-6181
- first_name: Daniela
  full_name: Vallentin, Daniela
  last_name: Vallentin
citation:
  ama: Calderon Garcia JS, Costalunga G, Vogels TP, Vallentin D. Interplay between
    syllable duration and pitch during whistle matching in wild nightingales. <i>Current
    Biology</i>. 2026. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025">10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025</a>
  apa: Calderon Garcia, J. S., Costalunga, G., Vogels, T. P., &#38; Vallentin, D.
    (2026). Interplay between syllable duration and pitch during whistle matching
    in wild nightingales. <i>Current Biology</i>. Elsevier. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025</a>
  chicago: Calderon Garcia, Juan Sebastian, Giacomo Costalunga, Tim P Vogels, and
    Daniela Vallentin. “Interplay between Syllable Duration and Pitch during Whistle
    Matching in Wild Nightingales.” <i>Current Biology</i>. Elsevier, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025</a>.
  ieee: J. S. Calderon Garcia, G. Costalunga, T. P. Vogels, and D. Vallentin, “Interplay
    between syllable duration and pitch during whistle matching in wild nightingales,”
    <i>Current Biology</i>. Elsevier, 2026.
  ista: Calderon Garcia JS, Costalunga G, Vogels TP, Vallentin D. 2026. Interplay
    between syllable duration and pitch during whistle matching in wild nightingales.
    Current Biology.
  mla: Calderon Garcia, Juan Sebastian, et al. “Interplay between Syllable Duration
    and Pitch during Whistle Matching in Wild Nightingales.” <i>Current Biology</i>,
    Elsevier, 2026, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025">10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025</a>.
  short: J.S. Calderon Garcia, G. Costalunga, T.P. Vogels, D. Vallentin, Current Biology
    (2026).
date_created: 2026-01-14T12:00:29Z
date_published: 2026-01-12T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-01-20T07:33:32Z
day: '12'
ddc:
- '570'
- '577'
department:
- _id: GradSch
- _id: TiVo
doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025
ec_funded: 1
has_accepted_license: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025
month: '01'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: 0aacfa84-070f-11eb-9043-d7eb2c709234
  call_identifier: H2020
  grant_number: '819603'
  name: Learning the shape of synaptic plasticity rules for neuronal architectures
    and function through machine learning.
publication: Current Biology
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1879-0445
  issn:
  - 0960-9822
publication_status: epub_ahead
publisher: Elsevier
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Interplay between syllable duration and pitch during whistle matching in wild
  nightingales
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
year: '2026'
...