Scientists Are Teaching Birds to Sing Lost Songs.
Researchers in Buenos Aires used a computer to recreate a rufous-collared sparrow song lost from a city park, and within three months a local bird began copying parts of it.
Scientists in Buenos Aires recreated a sparrow song that had vanished from a city park, using hand-drawn annotations of rufous-collared sparrow songs made in the 1960s. Less than three months after the computer-generated version was played, a local bird began to copy parts of it. Gabriel B Mindlin, a physics professor at the University of Buenos Aires, co-authored the study.
Each rufous-collared sparrow song has a trill, which is consistent among individuals in the same region, and a theme, which varies. Some themes recorded decades ago are still sung, while others have died out. It is not clear why this one disappeared, though Mindlin notes that the park's bird population had declined. The species is not considered vulnerable globally, but the researchers hope synthetic recordings could help tutor other species with shrinking populations where no real recordings exist.
Song matters for survival. According to the article, a bird that sings well and in a familiar dialect is better placed to find a mate and defend territory. When a population falls, fledglings have fewer chances to learn, and they may sing abnormally or pick up the songs of other species. About 4,000 of the world's 10,000 bird species are songbirds, which learn at least part of their songs from others.
Other research points to ways songs can recover. Sarah Collins of the University of Plymouth studied cirl buntings moved from Devon to Cornwall. At first their songs were squeaky, slow and far less diverse than those of the Devon birds, but eight years later they had returned to normal. The study suggests song recovery is possible, though it is unclear whether other species would bounce back the same way. Collins said cirl buntings are born knowing the elements of their songs and only learn how to combine them.
In Australia, zoo-bred regent honeyeaters, released to boost a critically endangered wild population of about 250, learned wild songs by interacting with just two wild-born male tutors. Zoo-bred males that had learned the traditional songs then tutored the next generation. Collins said birds do not always learn well from playbacks alone. Capturing wild birds to teach chicks could cause distress and spread disease, so the article says AI might one day provide live tutoring.
In Buenos Aires, the 1960s song is still sung by a few individuals close to where it was introduced, Mindlin said, though only time will tell how long it lasts.
Note: The headline suggests scientists are teaching birds in general. The page describes one sparrow copying parts of a recreated song, plus separate studies of tutoring in other species, and says AI tutoring is only a future possibility.
At a Glance
- A computer-made rufous-collared sparrow song based on 1960s annotations was copied in part by a local bird in under three months.
- Cirl buntings moved from Devon to Cornwall sang abnormal songs at first, but their songs were back to normal eight years later.
- Two wild-born male tutors helped zoo-bred regent honeyeaters learn wild songs, in a wild population that had fallen to about 250.
- About 4,000 of the world's 10,000 bird species are songbirds.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.