Related topics: birds

Muscle fibers alone can't explain sex differences in bird song

Male birds tend to be better singers than females—but does the basis for this difference lie in the brain or in the syrinx, the bird equivalent of our larynx? The researchers behind a new study from The Auk: Ornithological ...

Even non-migratory birds use a magnetic compass

Not only migratory birds use a built-in magnetic compass to navigate correctly. A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that non-migratory birds also are able to use a built-in compass to orient themselves using ...

The song of silence

Like humans learning to speak, juvenile birds learn to sing by mimicking vocalizations of adults of the same species during development. Juvenile birds preferentially learn the song of their own species, even in noisy environments ...

'Baby, it's hot outside': Why birds sing to eggs

Much like parents who talk to a pregnant woman's belly, some birds sing to their eggs before they hatch, and the reason may be to prepare them for a warming world, researchers said Thursday.

How the songbird learns its melody

Learning a first language is somewhat effortless. We start learning from our parents before we can even remember and the words and sounds are imprinted in our memory at an early age. Learning a new language as an adult is ...

'Baby talk' can help songbirds learn their tunes

Adult songbirds modify their vocalizations when singing to juveniles in the same way that humans alter their speech when talking to babies. The resulting brain activity in young birds could shed light on speech learning and ...

How birds turn red

In the bird world, the color red has special significance. Many species use red signals to attract mates or deter rivals, adding the color to their beaks, feathers, or bare skin. Generally speaking, as far as many birds are ...

page 6 from 14