As endangered birds lose their songs, they can't find mates
Male songbirds usually learn their tunes from adult mentors. But when aspiring crooners lack proper role models, they hit all the wrong notes—and have less success attracting mates.
Male songbirds usually learn their tunes from adult mentors. But when aspiring crooners lack proper role models, they hit all the wrong notes—and have less success attracting mates.
Plants & Animals
Mar 16, 2021
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2838
Most bird species are slow to change their tune, preferring to stick with tried-and-true songs to defend territories and attract females. Now, with the help of citizen scientists, researchers have tracked how one rare sparrow ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 2, 2020
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606
Perched on a flowering shrub on a windy Andean mountainside, the tiny Ecuadorian Hillstar hummingbird chirps songs of seduction that only another bird of its kind can hear.
Ecology
Jul 17, 2020
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591
The BirdNET app, a free machine-learning powered tool that can identify over 3,000 birds by sound alone, generates reliable scientific data and makes it easier for people to contribute citizen-science data on birds by simply ...
Ecology
Jun 28, 2022
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1061
(Phys.org)—A pair of researchers with Leiden University in The Netherlands has found via experimentation that at least two types of birds are able to learn the rules that define abstract grammatical structures. In their ...
Many of the birds that awaken us each morning learn their melodious songs the same way that humans learn a dialect—from parents and neighbors.
Plants & Animals
Jan 13, 2022
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276
Humans take for granted the noise and lights associated with cities and other developments across the landscape. For other creatures, these noisy and bright conditions lead to changes in behavior and activity such as the ...
Evolution
Jul 14, 2015
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52
(PhysOrg.com) -- Most everyone knows that modern pollution causes a lot of problems for the other animals trying to exist on this planet. Chemicals in the air and water make animals sick or kill them; urban sprawl allows ...
The beautiful sound of birdsongs emerging from the trees is a wonderful example of how much nature can still teach us, even as much about their origins are still mysterious to us. About 40 percent of bird species learn to ...
General Physics
Sep 19, 2017
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538
Male zebra finches learn their song by imitating conspecifics. To stand out in the crowd, each male develops its own unique song. Because of this individual-specific song, it was long assumed that dialects do not exist in ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 28, 2022
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27