Birds learn songs like humans learn languages

Bird songs fill forests with rich melodies, signaling territory, attracting mates, and fostering communication within flocks. These sounds are not static; they change over generations, much like human languages and music. 

New research from the University of Oxford sheds light on the evolution of bird songs, revealing the significant influence of population dynamics.

The experts analyzed over 100,000 bird songs, highlighting how movement, age, and turnover shape song diversity.

The researchers spent three years collecting over twenty thousand hours of recordings from great tits (Parus major) in Oxfordshire. This population has been monitored for 77 years as part of the Wytham Great Tit study.

The goal was to understand which songs gain popularity, which disappear, and how song repertoires evolve over time.

Tracking song evolution with AI

To analyze song changes, the researchers developed an AI model capable of recognizing individual birds based on their songs.

This technology enabled them to measure song differences between birds and track variations across the population.

The results revealed that birds of the same age share more similar repertoires, while mixed-age communities exhibit greater cultural diversity.

Song turnover accelerates when birds leave or die, as young newcomers adopt and introduce new song types.

Bird’s age and song retention

Older birds play a key role in preserving songs that are fading from the population.

While young birds drive change by adopting new song types, older individuals act as “cultural repositories” of past songs.

This dynamic mirrors how grandparents remember songs unfamiliar to younger generations.

However, age alone does not determine song change. The experts found that when birds mix more due to increased movement and immigration, they adopt common songs, which slows the rate of song evolution.

Local song traditions

Birds that stay close to their birthplace maintain distinctive song cultures, much like isolated human communities develop unique dialects.

Areas with less movement tend to retain more varied and unique song traditions.

Newcomers usually integrate into local song traditions rather than introducing completely new tunes. However, they often learn more songs, enriching the local musical landscape.

Cultural evolution in bird songs

“Just as human communities develop distinct dialects and musical traditions, some birds also have local song cultures that evolve over time,“ noted lead researcher Dr. Nilo Merino Recalde from the University of Oxford.

“Our study shows exactly how population dynamics – the comings and goings of individual birds – affect this cultural learning process, influencing both song diversity and the pace of change.”

This study is the first to extensively examine the role of demography in shaping cultural diversity in a wild animal population.

By using a large dataset of individual song variations, it provides insights into both bird behavior and the broader implications of demographic changes on cultural evolution in animal species.

Implications for conservation

The findings could have important implications for conservation efforts by showing how population shifts influence cultural traditions in birds. The complete dataset is now publicly available for further research.

“Our work here shows, once again, that tracking individuals over their lives allows us to understand so much of the way that different processes interact in natural populations,” noted Professor Ben Sheldon from the University of Oxford, who leads the long-term study in Wytham Woods.

“It’s thrilling to think that we can explain the acoustic landscape we hear in the woods each spring in terms of the result of the cumulative combination of individual movements and survival over many years.”

Future of bird song research

This study opens new possibilities for research into animal communication and cultural transmission.

By integrating artificial intelligence and long-term field studies, scientists can now explore how different species develop and maintain their unique traditions.

Future studies could examine whether similar patterns exist in other songbird species or even in non-bird animals that use vocalizations for communication.

The findings also raise intriguing questions about how climate change and habitat destruction might impact song evolution by altering population structures and migration patterns.

By continuing to study how birds learn and modify their songs, researchers can gain deeper insights into the connections between social behavior, cultural traditions, and environmental change.

These discoveries not only help us appreciate the complexity of bird communication but also provide a window into the broader forces shaping life on Earth.

The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

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