Research topic: birdsong

birdsong Song, call notes, and certain mechanical sounds constitute the language of birds. Song is produced in the syrinx, whose firm walls are derived from the rings of the trachea, and is modified by the larynx and tongue. The membranes of the syrinx are controlled by slender muscles; in the oscines, or song birds, there may be as many as eight pairs of these muscles, whereas other birds have four or fewer. The greater development permits intricate patternings of sound (rare outside the oscines) that express a wide range of reactions, from pleasure to distress. Recognizable by humans and... Read more