How do songbirds learn to sing?
“Poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody!” “Please, Please, Pleased to meetcha!” “Who cooks for you?” If you hear these phrases while walking through the woods, chances are there are a white-throated sparrow, chestnut-sided warbler and barred owl nearby. Songbirds—and the amusing gimmicks (called mnemonics) we’ve invented to remember their songs and calls—have long delighted human listeners. While it may seem they’re singing for our pleasure, there is a serious purpose behind their warbling, says Alexay Kozhevnikov, assistant professor of physics and psychology at Penn State. In most songbird species, only the males sing, and they learn to do so from their fathers, explains Kozhevnikov. “If a bird doesn’t hear the tutor, it will sing, but its song will be nothing like the song of an adult bird. It will be poorly structured and lack the wealth of acoustic structure.” In a bird’s world, a sloppy song can have serious consequences, Kozhevnikov says. “It means he’ll have a very tough time matin
