Birdsong not just for the birds
Computer scientists from the University of Bonn, in conjunction with the birdsong archives of Berlin's Humboldt University, have developed a kind of 'Big Brother' for birds. This has nothing to do with entertainment, but a lot to do with the protection of nature. view more (2008-07-29)
More silent spring...?
The evocative sounds of some of the world's most remote places - rare birdsong and human languages - are both under threat. New research from the University of East Anglia compares these threats for the first time. view more (2003-05-14)
The song doesn't remain the same in fragmented bird populations
The song of passerine birds is a conspicuous and exaggerated display shaped by sexual selection in the context of male-male competition or mate attraction. At the level of the individual, song is considered an indicator of male 'quality'. view more (2008-03-19)
"We are the champions" - the new birdie song
It's not just football supporters who join together in a rousing chorus to celebrate a victory. Winning a fight also appears to put the tropical boubou, an African bird, in the mood for a song. Research published in BMC Ecology describes a rare example of a context-specific birdsong and identifies the tropical boubou as the first bird species... view more... (2004-02-11)
International Dawn Chorus Day - Sunday 2nd May 2004
As nature lovers all over the world wake up to enjoy the enthusiastic sounds of birdsongs on International Dawn Chorus Day on 2 May, scientists at British Antarctic Survey's (BAS) Halley Research Station will listen to a very different Dawn Chorus. Each morning, as the Earth and its enveloping atmosphere turn towards the Sun, very low frequency... view more... (2004-04-29)
New structure discovered in butterfly ears
A clever structure in the ear of a tropical butterfly that potentially makes it able to distinguish between high and low pitch sounds has been discovered by scientists from the University of Bristol. view more (2009-10-22)
Tangerine Ruff 'n' Sniff: new clue to bird social behaviour
Scientists believe they have opened the door to an overlooked area of bird behaviour - the use of social scents. The basic assumption is that vision and hearing are the main senses that birds use to signal each other, e.g. the colour of plumage; the sound of birdsong. This is questioned by new experimental evidence observed in the Crested Auklet,... view more... (2003-05-12)
Why the swamp sparrow is hitting the high notes
Birdsongs are used extensively as models for animal signaling and human speech, offering a glimpse of how our own communicating abilities developed. view more (2009-01-12)
Bird Song Study Gives Clues to Human Stuttering
Researchers at the Methodist Neurological Institute (NI) in Houston and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City used functional MRI to determine that songbirds have a pronounced right-brain response to the sound of songs, establishing a foundational study for future research on songbird models of speech disorders such as stuttering. view more (2007-06-12)
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