Effects of numbers of repetitions, repetition rate, frequency separation, and frequency range on auditory streaming in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus)

Auditory streaming has been widely investigated behaviorally and physiologically in animals. The paradigm used in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) by MacDougall-Shackleton and colleagues (1998, J. Acoust. Soc. Amer.) was used here in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) to measure the effects of different numbers of repetitions of HLH- (high and low tones) triplets, repetition rates, tone frequencies, and frequency separations between the two tones on auditory streaming. Similar to humans, budgerigars subjectively experienced the auditory streaming phenomenon; more repetitions of HLH- triplets, faster repetition rates, and larger frequency separations enhanced the streaming perception. Further, these results were consistent across the two frequency ranges used in this study. When increasing the numbers of HLH- repetitions, it took longer to establish the streaming perception in budgerigars, similar to the buildup phenomenon in humans. These results indicate, for the first time using a behavioral par...