Male birds that are able to precisely repeat song notes stand the best chance of attracting a female mate, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. However, the males need to ensure they have a selection of different songs in their repertoire if they are to hold a female’s attention and prevent her […]
Tag: Birdsong
How Birds and Their Songs Can Improve Mental Health
If you’re searching for a natural, accessible method to enhance your mental health, you might want to pay more attention to birds. This advice might come as a surprise, but the chorus of feathered friends surrounding us has been scientifically linked to improved mental well-being. A symbiosis exists between humans and nature, with research increasingly […]
Study: Woodpecker Drumming is Neurologically Similar to Songbird Vocalization
A team of scientists from the United States and Denmark has found specialized pecking-related regions in the woodpecker forebrain that show characteristics that until now have only been associated with vocal learning in animals and language in humans; instead of being related to vocalization, activity in these brain regions is related to the characteristic tree […]
More proof. A walk-in-the-park really can boost our feelings of well-being – especially when there are wild songbirds along the way!
It’s not exactly news that spending time in nature benefits human health and well-being. But an experiment conducted by social scientists along some mountain trails in Colorado shows – it’s not just the wind in your face or the grandeur of the scenery we need to thank. They hid speakers along two trails in the […]
Why do birds sing?
When we talk about birdsong, we cannot simply refer to a single “voice”. It is a great chorus of complex sounds, it is a real language in itself. The dry “teak” of a sparrow, the plaintive “gheck gheck gheck” of a woodpecker, the shrill “chirrip” of a lark – each sound has its own purpose […]
Nightingale has best birdsong because of its complex brain, research finds
No wonder they celebrated it in a song. The common nightingale is top of the feathered crooners, according to research highlighted on International Dawn Chorus Day that suggests the bird’s impressive vocal range is down to the composition of its brain. The secretive bird, immortalised in the romantic 30s song A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley […]