Bird ecologists from around the world, including the University of Vienna and Flinders University, have shown an native wren mother's signature call to her eggs helps to give her newborn their distinctive call for food—helping these fairywren species to bond with and prepare their young for the real world.

By calling to them in the egg, the new study found the nestlings responding favorably to the mother's "B element" vocalization. The article, "Nestling begging calls resemble maternal vocal signatures when mothers call slowly to embryos " has been accepted for publication in pre-print by The American Naturalist

The special individual calls by Superb fairywrens (Malarus cyaneus) appear to "teach" their unborn chicks family's distinct call type both inside the egg and emerging into the nest, says Flinders and University of Vienna Professor Sonia Kleindorfer, who founded the Flinders University BirdLab 20 years ago.

The study of fairywrens (songbird family Maluridae) was conducted by Flinders University scientists in South Australia at the Cleland Conservation Park study, with help from the Department of Environment and Water.

"In eight species of fairywren and grasswren, females produce a B element to their embryos that is the mother's signature element and unique to each female. This B element is also the nestling begging call produced shortly after hatching," says Professor Kleindorfer.