French Scientists Identify 8 Birdsong Motifs in 116,000 Songs as Environment Shapes Their Use
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 23
French Scientists Identify 8 Birdsong Motifs in 116,000 Songs as Environment Shapes Their Use
2 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 23
Summary
Researchers in France analyzed about 116,000 recordings from more than 3,000 songbird species and found that global birdsong is built from eight recurring sound motifs.
AI comparisons of a volunteer-built global database showed those motifs combine into the vast variety of songs, revealing a simple structure beneath trill, whistle, chaotic and harmonic patterns.
Tropical forests favored simpler motifs such as flat whistles that carry through dense, noisy habitats, while temperate regions more often produced faster, more complex trills used at closer range.
The team said that environment-song link could help track how birds adapt to human-made noise and habitat change, with the study published in Science.