Blue TitParus caeruleussong in relation to survival, reproduction and biometry

A detailed analysis of singing performance of male Blue Tits is given, in relation to reproductive success and survival. Singing performance varied considerably between males and differences between males were probably retained from one year to the next. The lengths of 2 different song types were correlated but the size of the song repertoire was not correlated with song length. Two kinds of song features other than repertoire size, a measure of length and the rate at which the song slows down, seemed to reflect singing capacity. Males with longer songs survived better but there was no evidence that they had a greater lifetime reproductive success. Survival and reproductive success were not correlated with various measures of body size.