Animals use acoustic signals for communication, implying that the properties of these signals can be under strong selection. The acoustic adaptation hypothesis predicts that species in dense habitats emit lower-frequency sounds than those in open areas because low-frequency sounds propagate further in dense vegetation than high-frequency sounds. Signal frequency may also be under sexual selection because it correlates with body size and lower-frequency sounds are perceived as more intimidating. Here, we evaluate these hypotheses by analysing variation in peak song frequency across 5,085 passerine species (Passeriformes). A phylogenetically informed analysis revealed that song frequency decreases with increasing body mass and with male-biased sexual size dimorphism. However, we found no support for the predicted relationship between frequency and habitat. Our results suggest that the global variation in passerine song frequency is mostly driven by natural and sexual selection causing evolutionary shifts in body size rather than by habitat-related selection on sound propagation.

Communication and Social Behaviour Group Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard Gwinner Str 11 Seewiesen 82319 Germany

Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard Gwinner Str 7 Seewiesen 82319 Germany

Department of Ecology Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Praha 16521 Czech Republic

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 Praha 12843 Czech Republic

Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 Praha 12844 Czech Republic

Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Academy of Sciences Květná 8 Brno 603 65 Czech Republic

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