Is birdsong simply a hard-wired, functional, primitive sound – or could we call it ‘music’? Australia’s pied butcherbirds show there are surprising overlaps between birds’ and humans’ musical abilities.
Articles on Songbirds
Displaying 41 - 58 of 58 articles
The European goldfinch, with its wonderful coloration and melodic singing, is a favoured pet for people living in the western Maghreb. But continued poaching is putting the species in danger.
Being blue is risky for superb fairy-wrens: males become more cautious when their plumage turns blue, and other wrens take advantage by using them as colourful decoys.
During bird irruptions, hundreds or thousands of a single species show up outside their normal territory. Most of what we know about irruptions comes from data collected by citizen scientists.
Victorian attitudes influenced what scientists thought they were observing about sexual behaviors in the animal world. But modern techniques reveal the myth for what it is.
Many argue avian movements are too simple or repetitive to be classed as dance. But George the lyrebird puts on quite a show – as do a number of other bird species.
Our citizen science project was designed to record bird sounds but produced some surprisingly funny impressions.
New research reveals that the first songbirds emerged from Australia when a new chain of islands formed.
New research explains why habitat loss means male willow warblers now outnumber females – and that’s bad news for the species.
Sparrows are one of the commonest birds seen in Australian cities. But the first ones didn’t come from England.
It is unusual for songbirds migrating from Europe to Africa to sing. A new hypothesis suggests an interesting reason for why such singing sometimes happens.
It took ages for one of African jazz’s hidden masterpieces to be reissued. Still today, four decades later, 1976’s ‘African Songbird’ tells volumes about the politics of the time.
Australian birds are arguably among the smartest in the world, displaying complex behaviours comparable to those observed in great apes.
Noise pollution, whether on land or under water, can affect animals in interesting – and not always positive – ways.
In Australia, honeyeaters are far and away the most abundant and important nectar-feeding birds, so also the most important avian pollinators of flowers. What effect has their visual perception had on…
In an article for National Geographic and a forthcoming documentary film, author and birder Jonathan Franzen ponders the slaughter of migratory songbirds around the Mediterranean, and asks how it can be…
Across the world, the damage caused by invasive alien species is second only to habitat destruction by humans in reducing the planet’s biodiversity. Their effect is especially potent on islands. Cats…
The melodious beauty and elaborate complexity of birdsong has long inspired poets, writers, and musicians – as well as behavioural ecologists! But besides appreciating the aesthetics of birdsong, we are…
Top contributors
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Professor of Avian Behavioural Ecology, Macquarie University
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Research Affiliate, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney
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Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Animal Behaviour, Bangor University
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Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England
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Postdoctoral research fellow, Vanderbilt University
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Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University
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Ph.D. Candidate in Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University
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Associate Professor, Biology, Ecology and Conservation, St. George's University
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Lab manager and researcher, University of Guelph
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Postdoctoral Fellow studying ornithology and conservation biology, University of Alberta
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Senior Lecturer in Zoology, Bangor University
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Professor of Ethno-ornithology, University of Oxford
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Associate Professor, Member of the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, University of Guelph
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Professor of Applied Ecology, Newcastle University