Is Birdsong Instinctual?
The particular song a bird sings seems to be instinctual, in most, but not all species. There are regional and individual variations — dialects — of the song of a same species. In some, song seems to be entirely inherited, and learned by juvenile birds by listening to their parents. Baby birds practice a “pre-song” in the nest until they perfect it. Birds’ ability to mimic other songs indicates that vocalizations are not pure instinct. Some species when raised by another species sing the parents’ song, and not their own. Hearing clearly improves singing ability. In one experiment, chickens and turkeys deafened at birth developed normal calls, and undeafened chicks raised by parents of other species produced normal calls. However, the calls of songbird chicks deafened at birth were altered or dissimilar to those of their own species.
