Books

Searcy, W. A., and S. Nowicki 2005. The Evolution of Animal Communication:
Reliability and Deception in Signaling Systems.  Princeton University Press, Princeton,
New Jersey.

Searcy, W. A., and K. Yasukawa.  1995.  Polygyny and Sexual Selection in Red-winged
Blackbirds.  Princeton University Press.

Recent Articles and Book Chapters (from 2000)

2011

DuBois, A. L., S. Nowicki, and W. A. Searcy. 2011. Discrimination of vocal
performance by male swamp sparrows. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
65:717-726.

Searcy, W. A. and M. D. Beecher. 2011. Continued scepticism that song overlapping
is a signal. Animal Behaviour 81:e1-e4.

2010

Stai, S. M., and W. A. Searcy. 2010. Passive sperm loss and patterns of sperm
precedence in Muscovy ducks. Auk 127:495-502

Searcy, W. A., S. Peters, S. Kipper, and S. Nowicki. 2010. Female response to song
reflects developmental history in swamp sparrows. Behavioral Ecology and
Sociobiology 65:1343-1349.

2009

DuBois, A. L, S. Nowicki, and W. A. Searcy. 2009. Swamp sparrows modulate vocal
Performance in aggressive contexts.  Biology Letters 5:163-165.

Ackay, C., W. E. Wood, W. A. Searcy, C. N. Templeton, S. E. Campbell, and M. D.
Beecher. 2009. Good neighbour, bad neighbour: song sparrows retaliate against
aggressive rivals.  Animal Behaviour 78:97-102.

Searcy, W. A., and S. Nowicki. 2009.  Sexual selection and the evolution of animal
signals.  in L. R. Squires (ed) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience.  v. 8, pp. 769-776.
Academic Press, Oxford.

Searcy, W. A., and S. Nowicki. 2009  Consequences of brain development for sexual
signaling in songbirds.  pages 71-87 In R. Dukas and J. M. Ratcliffe (eds) Cognitive
Ecology II. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Searcy, W. A., and M. D. Beecher.  2009.  Song as an aggressive signal in songbirds.
Animal Behaviour. 78:1281-1292.

2008

Ballentine, B., W. A. Searcy, and S. Nowicki. 2008.  Reliable aggressive signalling in
swamp sparrows.  Animal Behaviour. 75:693-703.

Searcy, W. A., R. C. Anderson, and S. Nowicki. 2008. Is bird song a reliable signal of
aggressive intent?  A reply.  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 62:1213-1216.

Anderson, R. C., W. A. Searcy, and S. Nowicki. 2008.  Testing the function of song
matching in birds: responses of eastern male song sparrows Melospiza melodia to
partial song matching.  Behaviour. 145:347-363.

Anderson, R. C., W. A. Searcy, S. Peters, and S. Nowicki. 2008.  Soft song in song
sparrows: acoustic structure and implications for signal function.  Ethology
114:662-676.

Searcy, W. A., and S. Nowicki. 2008.  Bird song and the problem of honest
communication. American Scientist 96:114-121.

Krueger, T. R., D. A. Williams, and W. A. Searcy. 2008.  The genetic mating system of a
tropical tanager.  Condor 110:559-562.

2007

Hughes, M., R. C. Anderson, W. A. Searcy, L. M. Bottensek, and S. Nowicki.  2007.
Song type sharing and territory tenure in eastern song sparrows: implications for
the evolution of song repertoires.  Animal Behaviour 73:701-710.

Anderson, R. C., S. Nowicki, and W. A. Searcy. 2007. Soft song in song sparrows:
response of males and females to an enigmatic signal. Behavioral Ecology and
Sociobiology 61:1267-1274.

2006

Searcy, W. A., R. C. Anderson, and S. Nowicki. 2006. Bird song as a signal of
aggressive intent. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 60:234-241.

Searcy, W. A., and S. Nowicki. 2006.  Signal interception and the use of soft song
in aggressive interactions.  Ethology 112:865-872.

2005

Nowicki, S. and W. A. Searcy. 2005. Song and mate choice in birds: How the
development of behavior helps us understand its function. Auk 122:1-14.

Anderson, R. C., W. A. Searcy, and S. Nowicki. 2005. Partial song matching in an eastern
population of song sparrows, Melospiza melodia. Animal Behaviour 69:189-196.

Nowicki, S. and W. A. Searcy. 2005. Adaptive priorities in brain development:
theoretical comment of Pravosudov et al. (2005).  Behavioral Neuroscience.
119:1415-1418.

2004

Hyman,  J., M. Hughes, W. A. Searcy, and S. Nowicki. 2004. Individual variation in the
strength of territory defense in male song sparrows: Correlates of age, territory
tenure, and neighbor aggressiveness. Behaviour 141:15-27.

Searcy, W. A., S. Peters, and S. Nowicki. 2004.  Effects of early nutrition on growth
rate and adult size in song sparrows.  Journal of Avian Biology.35:269-279.

Nowicki, S. & W. A. Searcy.  2004.  Song function and the evolution of female
preferences: Why birds sing and why brains matter.  Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.  
1016:704-723.

2003

Searcy, W. A., S. Nowicki, and S. Peters. 2003. Phonology and geographic song
discrimination in song sparrows.   Ethology 109:23-35.

2002

Searcy, W. A., S. Nowicki, M. Hughes, and S. Peters. 2002. Geographic song
discrimination in relation to dispersal distance in song sparrows.  American Naturalist
159:221-230.

Nowicki, S., W. A. Searcy, T. Krueger, and M. Hughes. 2002.  Individual variation in
response to simulated territorial challenge among territory-holding song sparrows.
Journal of Avian Biology 33:253-259.

Nowicki, S., W. A. Searcy, and S. Peters. 2002. Quality of song learning affects female
response to male bird song.  Proceedings of the Royal Society (London) B 269:1949-
1954.

Nowicki, S., W. A. Searcy, and S. Peters. 2002. Brain development, song learning, and
mate choice in birds: a review and experimental test of the "nutritional stress
hypothesis." J. Comp. Phys. A 188:1003-1014.

2001

Pribil, S., and W. A. Searcy. 2001. Experimental confirmation of the polygyny threshold
model for red-winged blackbirds. Proceedings of the Royal Society (London) B
268:1643-1646.

Nowicki, S., W. A. Searcy, M. Hughes, and J. Podos. 2001. The evolution of bird song:
male and female response to song innovation in swamp sparrows.  Animal Behaviour
62:1189-1195.

2000

Searcy, W. A. and S. Nowicki. 2000. Male-male competition and female choice in the
evolution of vocal signaling. in Y. Espmark, T. Amundsen, and G. Rosenquist (eds)
Animal Signals: Signalling and Signal Design in Animal Communication.  pp. 301-315
Tapir Academic Press, Trondheim, Norway.

Searcy, W. A., S. Nowicki, and C. Hogan. 2000. Song type variants and aggressive
context. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 48:358-363.

Peters, S., W. A. Searcy, M. D. Beecher, and S. Nowicki. 2000.  Geographic variation
in the organization of song sparrow repertoires.  Auk 117:936-942.