What a lark: Birds of a feather sing together

(Phys.org) -- The lyrebird is the reigning king of karaoke in the animal world, with not even the birds being mimicked always able to tell the difference between the lyrebirds and the real thing, researchers at The Australian ...

Urban traffic noise causes song learning deficits in birds  

Traffic noise leads to inaccuracies and delays in the development of song learning in young birds. They also suffer from a suppressed immune system, which is an indicator of chronic stress. A new study by researchers of the ...

How songbirds learn a new song

For a songbird, learning a new song is akin to a child learning a new language. Zebra finches approach this challenge step by step, and even make a detour in the process - by taking song syllables that they already know and ...

Social cues are key to vocal learning in birds and babies

When a baby bird learns a song, is it simply mimicking and practicing its father's tune? Or do chicks learn by first putting out nonsensical sounds – akin to a human infant's babble – which they then build upon based ...

Scientists remind their peers: Female birds sing, too

When North American ornithologists hear a bird singing, they're likely to assume it's a male. But in many species, the females sing too—and a new commentary in The Auk: Ornithological Advances argues that a better understanding ...

In future, phones can identify the Troubadour on the tree top

In spring, the sound of birds serenading fills the air. The Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics is developing a system that can recognize a bird species based on a song segment. The system can be put to use by nature ...

Songbirds and humans share some common speech patterns

If you listen to songbirds, you will recognize repeated melodies or phrases. Each phrase is made up of distinct sounds, strung together. A study from researchers at McGill University has found that the song phrases of many ...

Sparrow chicks can ID song from opening note

A new University of Nebraska-Lincoln study has shown that golden-crowned sparrow chicks can name their tune in just one note – even before knowing the song.

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