Secrets of bird songs revealed ‘amazing diversity’

Scientists in France say they have discovered the amazing generator of birdsong.

One team analyzed more than 100,000 songbird songs and found that bird songs around the world are made up of eight basic sound types that the researchers call “motifs.”

Bird song around the world, they say, is a combination of these themes – three types of trills, three types of whistles, chaotic notes and harmony.

Bird song is one of the most sophisticated forms of sound-based communication in the natural world.

Its diversity and complexity have amazed biologists, but it has been difficult to study in its diverse repertoire, globally.

“The difference is huge. If you go to Asia, Africa, Amazonia, you hear completely different songs,” said lead researcher and Saint-Étienne PhD student Quentin Bakele.

In their new study, he and his colleagues used a global database of birdsong – recordings uploaded by thousands of volunteers. This means they can analyze about 116,000 songs from more than 3,000 bird song species.

They studied the patterns in the songs – how each song changes and changes over time. And compare thousands of songs with each other with the help of AI – to find out what connects.

Scientists say this reveals the “simplicity of diversity in birdsong.”