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 immobile. ...

Bird song – it's not just a male gig

Since Darwin's observations we thought that bird songs were a male trait for courting with females who were drawn to the most seductive male song.

The evolution of bird-of-paradise sex chromosomes revealed

Birds-of-paradise are a group of songbird species, and are known for their magnificent male plumage and bewildering sexual display. Now, an international collaborative study involving the University of Vienna, Zhejiang University ...

Why do migratory birds sing on their tropical wintering grounds?

The first notes of bird song signal the arrival of spring as well as the beginning of mate attraction season, and for many songbird species males with the most elaborate songs do best when it comes to attracting females. ...

Darwin's finch and the evolution of smell

Darwin's finches - some 14 related species of songbirds found on the Galapagos and Cocos Islands - will forever be enshrined in history for having planted the seeds of the theory of evolution through natural selection. Today, ...

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