Australian zebra finches sing a rhythmic high-pitched song while incubating their eggs in a hot environment, which researchers have named a “heat call”. Experiments now show that this call influences ...

Not all birds sing, but those that do — some several thousand species — do it a lot. All over the world, as soon as light filters over the horizon, songbirds launch their serenades. They sing to ...

Video demonstrating vocal learning by juvenile zebra finches. A baby’s babbling may sound like nonsense, but it’s actually an extended act of trial-and-error ...

A new study shows male zebra finches must sing every day to keep their vocal muscles in shape. Females prefer the songs of males that did their daily vocal workout. Why do songbirds sing so much? Well ...

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 ...

Songbirds may need to practise singing every day to maintain the quality of their performance. Male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) learn a unique song, usually from their father, in the first 90 ...

We recorded basal ganglia–projecting dopamine neurons in singing zebra finches as we controlled perceived song quality with distorted auditory feedback. Dopamine activity was suppressed after ...

When we hear a song for the first time, it often seems like it goes in one ear and out the other, sometimes only few catchy words from a chorus leaving much of an impression. But when the Australian ...

Research on the songbird zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) has advanced our behavioral, hormonal, neuronal, and genetic understanding of vocal learning. However, little is known about the impact of ...

Rachel Carson’s landmark 1962 environmental science book Silent Spring was an investigation of the environmental harm caused by the use of the synthetic pesticide DDT. The book took its title from the ...

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. Why do songbirds sing so much? Well, ...