Male zebra finches learn their song by imitating conspecifics. To stand out in the crowd, each male develops its own unique song. Because of this individual-specific song, it was long assumed that ...

A young zebra finch learning to sing may not sound like much at first, just a babbling stream of chirps and whistles. But ...

We are all born completely helpless, with little of the knowledge and skills we will need to survive as adults. Even our ...

We are all born completely helpless, with little of the knowledge and skills we will need to survive as adults. Even our ...

For decades, scientists have known that only a few groups of birds—songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds—can learn to produce new sounds. But a new article in The Quarterly Review of Biology reveals ...

Just three more boxes. Manfred Gahr apologizes for the slight disarray. “Just these three and the move is complete,” he says. When they are unpacked, his office – the room in which renowned ...

Song plays an important social role for zebra finches in the wild, upending theories that songbirds only sing to establish territory and attract a mate, a new study reveals. In its natural desert ...

Species must reproduce to survive, and animals have found unique ways of achieving this. For some, including us, it seems as though producing a few offspring that require extended care is the best ...

In an article published earlier this week in Nature, researchers revealed the complete genome of the zebra finch and focused on the intricacies of their vocal communication. The zebra finch, the males ...

To us, bird song may just sound pretty. However, if we want to understand why birds sing, we have to consider that song may have multiple functions. A male’s song may serve to repel a male neighbor, ...