Scientists find the secret of birdsong's 'spectacular diversity'
Scientists have identified eight fundamental 'motifs' that form the basis of the vast diversity of birdsong across the globe. By using AI to analyze over 100,000 recordings, researchers discovered that environmental factors significantly influence how birds compose their songs.
Why it matters
Understanding the building blocks of animal communication provides deeper insight into evolutionary biology and how species adapt to their specific habitats.
The songs of birds like this European wren are shaped by their environment/ Clément Cornec/ENES Bioacoustics Research Lab via BBC
Scientists in France say they have discovered the building blocks of the incredible diversity of birdsong.
A team analysed more than100,000 songs from 3,000 bird species and revealed that they are all composed of eight fundamental types of sound that the researchers call "motifs".
Each song, they say, is made up of combinations of these motifs - three types of trill, three types of whistle, chaotic notes and harmonies.
Birdsong is one of the natural world's most sophisticated forms of sound-based communication.
Its variety and complexity has fascinated biologists, but with so many different songs, it has been difficult to study on a global scale.
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