Anthropogenic noise and social context affect vocal plasticity in a common urban passerine

Vocal communication shapes animal social networks, connecting individuals over space and time via information, facilitating mate attraction and resource defense. Despite evidence that both the physical and social environment affect signaling behavior, few studies consider variation in individual responses to environmental change within a social context. We test the hypothesis that male House wrens (Troglodytes aedon) plastically adjust songs and song sections structured for short-and long-distance transmission in response to change in their immediate noise environment, but that both social context and noise affect singing patterns at the population level. We recorded paired males prior to clutch initiation, quantified ambient noise in the moments before singing, and define social context within pairs as female fertile status and between males as number of conspecific neighbors. Among males, adjustment patterns varied depending on transmission properties, social context, and noise. In response to immediate change in noise, males plastically adjust some, but not all, song traits. We show that not all males adjust signals in the same way, and that consideration of social context and signal function are crucial for understanding variation in signal structure. This is an essential step towards understanding how both the social and physical environment may drive selection on vocalizations.Vocal communication shapes animal social networks, connecting individuals over space and time via information, facilitating mate attraction and resource defense. Despite evidence that both the physical and social environment affect signaling behavior, few studies consider variation in individual responses to environmental change within a social context. We test the hypothesis that male House wrens (Troglodytes aedon) plastically adjust songs and song sections structured for short-and long-distance transmission in response to change in their immediate noise environment, but that both social context and noise affect singing patterns at the population level. We recorded paired males prior to clutch initiation, quantified ambient noise in the moments before singing, and define social context within pairs as female fertile status and between males as number of conspecific neighbors. Among males, adjustment patterns varied depending on transmission properties, social context, and noise. In response to immediate...