![]() This ability persisted for days, even without any further training. Gradually, the finches learned to modify their songs and were able to switch between the appropriate sequences as soon as the light cues changed. A specific computer program was used to detect different variations on a theme that the bird naturally produced (for example, “ab-c” versus “ab-d”), and rewarded birds for singing one sequence when the light was yellow, and the other when it was green. trained adult male Bengalese finches to change the sequence of their songs in response to random colored lights that had no natural meaning to the birds. To test whether birds can control their songs in a purposeful way, Veit et al. ![]() However, so far it was unclear whether songbirds are also capable of modifying songs independent of social or other naturally relevant contexts. Birdsongs also vary depending on their context, and melodies to seduce a mate will be different from aggressive songs to warn other males to stay away. Humans can flexibly control what they say and how by reordering a fixed set of syllables into endless combinations, an ability critical to human speech and language. Moreover, both humans and songbirds possess specific circuits in the brain that connect the forebrain to midbrain vocal centers. Both humans and birds learn their vocalizations during critical phases early in life, and both learn by imitating adults. Human speech and birdsong share numerous parallels. Our findings reveal a capacity in songbirds for learned contextual control over syllable sequencing that parallels human cognitive control over syllable sequencing in speech. Moreover, once learned, this modulation of sequencing occurs immediately following changes in contextual cues and persists without external reinforcement. ‘ab-c’ versus ‘ab-d’) in response to arbitrary visual cues. Here, we demonstrate that Bengalese finches ( Lonchura striata domestica), which sing variable syllable sequences, can learn to rapidly modify the probability of specific sequences (e.g. Based on these similarities, we hypothesized that songbirds might likewise be able to learn flexible, moment-by-moment control over vocalizations. Songbirds are phylogenetically distant from humans but share both the capacity for vocal learning and neural circuitry for vocal control that includes direct pallial-brainstem projections. These high energy birds never seem to stop and rest, but when they do, they are absolutely stunning! The scalloped mating feathers on the males necks have a metallic sheen, and are just amazing! At some point, I hope to get some setup photos of these itsy bitsy beauties, if I can attract them to my yard.The flexible control of sequential behavior is a fundamental aspect of speech, enabling endless reordering of a limited set of learned vocal elements (syllables or words). I’ve seen a lot of amazing hummingbird photos of them in flight, drinking nectar from a flower…but few of them perching. I set my tripod up near the bush, and waited for him to perch, which he did on a fairly regular period as he patrolled and defended his territory. I found the small territory of one, a circle of five trees and a bush. ![]() There must have been a couple dozen of them, zipping about in the sky, flying their mating arcs or fighting each other off. (I absolutely LOVE the creamy boke this new lens produces…its like silk!)įinally, the Hummingbirds were everywhere. Eventually he appeared, meal in its beak. I only heard the sound of a bird I’d not heard before, and waited with my lens pointed and focused in the general direction and location in the tree. The Towhee was difficult to spot at first…she initially blended so well into the pine. I must have counted a wren returning about 20 times or more while I sat there photographing. The House Wren had a nest in an old nest box on a post, and it seemed as though both the mother and the father were hunting insects and feeding a full brood (the chicks could be heard clearly, although not seen as they were nicely tucked away inside the next box). The full list of species that I spotted includes a few more: I brought my camera, and managed to make some excellent photos of several bird species that don’t seem to frequent my back yard: House Wren, Green-tailed Towhee, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. They live up in the mountains where the scenery is far more beautiful, and the songbird species diversity is considerably greater than in my back yard. ![]() On the Fourth of July, I spent the day at my parents house. ![]()
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