songbirds

Birds Alter Songs in Reaction to Habitat Change

harminka — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:50:36 -0500

Elizabeth Derryberry, post-doctoral researcher at the LSU Museum of Natural Science, has found a link between alterations in bird songs and the rapid change in the surrounding habitat. Her research will be featured in the July 2009 issue of the American Naturalist.

Why swamp sparrow is hitting high notes

harminka — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:33:12 -0600

Birdsongs are used extensively as models for animal signaling and human speech, offering a glimpse of how our own communicating abilities developed.

Dam good for songbirds

harminka — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:36:47 -0500

The songbird has a friend in the beaver. According to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the busy beaver's signature dams provide critical habitat for a variety of migratory songbirds, particularly in the semi-arid interior of the West.

Migrating songbirds learn survival tips on fly

harminka — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:58:21 -0500

Migrating songbirds take their survival cues from local winged residents when flying through unfamiliar territory, a new Queen's University-led study shows.

Birds communicate reproductive success in song

harminka — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:51:50 -0500

Some migratory songbirds figure out the best place to live by eavesdropping on the singing of others that successfully have had baby birds – a communication and behavioral trait so strong that researchers playing recorded songs induced them to nest in places they otherwise would have avoided.

What gets female's attention, at least a songbird's

harminka — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:54:22 -0500

Male songbirds produce a subtly different tune when they are courting a female than when they are singing on their own. Now, new research offers a window into the effect this has on females, showing they have an ear for detail.

Bird brains suggest how vocal learning evolved

harminka — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:49:27 -0500

Though they perch far apart on the avian family tree, birds with the ability to learn songs use similar brain structures to sing their tunes. Neurobiologists at Duke University Medical Center now have an explanation for this puzzling likeness.

Songbirds offer clues to highly practiced motor skills in humans

harminka — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 06:21:15 -0600

The melodious sound of a songbird may appear effortless, but his elocutions are actually the result of rigorous training undergone in youth and maintained throughout adulthood. His tune has virtually “crystallized” by maturity.

Steroids spur growth of brain regions in sparrows

harminka — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:26:08 -0500

Neuroscientists are attempting to understand if structural changes in the brain are related to sensory experience or the performance of learned behavior, and now University of Washington researchers have found evidence that one species of songbird apparently has something in common with a few baseball sluggers.

Art and music for birds

harminka — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 05:38:26 -0500

Nature is a valued source of inspiration for artists. But what have artists offered the natural world? Would a bird even like rock and roll?

Songbirds Prefer Latest Music

harminka — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:57:50 -0500

When it's time to mate, female white-crowned sparrows are looking for a male who sings the latest version of the love song, not some 1979 relic.

Duetting birds with rhythm present a greater threat

harminka — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:28:41 -0500

Birds that sing duets with incredible rhythmic precision present a greater threat to other members of their species than those that whistle a sloppier tune, according to a study of Australian magpie-larks reported in the June 5th issue of Current Biology, published by Cell Press.