News tagged with zebra finches

Related topics: birds

Scientists lift lid on turtle evolution

The turtle is a closer relative of crocodiles and birds than of lizards and snakes, according to researchers who claim to have solved an age-old riddle in animal evolution.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Telomere length in young zebra finches predicts lifespan

(PhysOrg.com) -- For hundreds, if not thousands of years scientists have been seeking clues to explain why we humans, and all other animals for that matter, age. But it’s been only recently that some ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 10, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (10) | comments 3 | with audio podcast report

Neurons work like a chain of dominos to control action sequences (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- As anyone who as ever picked up a guitar or a tennis racket knows, precise timing is often an essential part of performing complex tasks. Now, by studying the brain circuits that control bird song, MIT researchers ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Oct 24, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

MicroRNAs in the songbird brain respond to new songs (w/ video)

Whenever it hears an unfamiliar song from a bird of the same species, a zebra finch stops chirping, hopping and grooming. It listens attentively for minutes at a time, occasionally cocking its head but otherwise ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 30, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

A bird's song may teach us about human speech disorders

(PhysOrg.com) -- Can the song of a small bird provide valuable insights into human stuttering and speech-related disorders and conditions, including autism and stroke? New research by UCLA life scientists ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Mar 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Monogamous birds... peeping on the neighbors!

(PhysOrg.com) -- It is well documented that male birds seduce females using their songs, colourful plumage and courtship dances. These signals reflect male genetic quality and will be graded by the female ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Which Side Are You On? Birds Need Tutoring to Find Out

(PhysOrg.com) -- Just like us, songbirds need tutoring to learn to vocalize and sing.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 18, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Tweet: Scientists decode songbird's genome, provide clues on language learning (w/ Video)

Nearly all animals make sounds instinctively, but baby songbirds learn to sing in virtually the same way human infants learn to speak: by imitating a parent.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 31, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Sexy sons thanks to mom

It is not the superior genes of the father, but the mother's resource investment in the eggs that makes Zebra Finch males particularly attractive. A Swiss-Australian research team lead by evolutionary ecologists ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 29, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Females choose mates for their personalities, study shows

Adventurous females choose mates with similar personalities, regardless of the male's appearance and other assets, according to research led by the University of Exeter. This is the first study to show that ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 25, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Study of finches shows they form homosexual alliances

A new study by a team of researchers shows that for zebra finches, bonding trumps sex. Post-Doc fellow Julie Elie of the University of California and her team describe in the journal Behavioural Ecology an ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 16, 2011 | popularity 2.6 / 5 (5) | comments 28 | with audio podcast report

Stress in early life reduces life expectancy - and that of partners

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study from the University of Glasgow, published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, suggests that our expectancy is likely to be strongly affected by how much stress ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 17, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Opposites may attract, but they aren't better parents

(PhysOrg.com) -- A study by experts at the University of Exeter has revealed that couples with similar personalities make much better parents than those with different dispositions – at least in the world ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Momma's boys exist in bird families too

Momma's boys may not be solely confined to human families. Instead, a new study suggests birds have the same prejudices.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 16, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Attractive dads have more grandchildren

(PhysOrg.com) -- A study of zebra finches has shown that males' attractiveness influences the number and size of eggs their daughters produce – not genetically but through the effect of their attractiveness on their ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 15, 2011 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast