A baby's babbling may sound like nonsense, but it's actually an extended act of trial-and-error learning. As babies produce ...

Male zebra finches learn their song by imitating conspecifics. To stand out in the crowd, each male develops its own unique song. Because of this individual-specific song, it was long assumed that ...

Australian zebra finches sing a rhythmic high-pitched song while incubating their eggs in a hot environment, which researchers have named a “heat call”. Experiments now show that this call influences ...

When it comes to singing, male zebra finches outdo prima donnas, singing over a wide range that starts almost an octave above middle C but soars higher than any coloratura soprano. Female zebra ...

We recorded basal ganglia–projecting dopamine neurons in singing zebra finches as we controlled perceived song quality with distorted auditory feedback. Dopamine activity was suppressed after ...

A new study shows male zebra finches must sing every day to keep their vocal muscles in shape. Females prefer the songs of males that did their daily vocal workout. Why do songbirds sing so much? Well ...

Not all birds sing, but those that do — some several thousand species — do it a lot. All over the world, as soon as light filters over the horizon, songbirds launch their serenades. They sing to ...

Dawn is beckoned by choruses of birds all around the world, but we still don't understand why our avian neighbours insist on such a morning ruckus. A new study, yet to be peer reviewed, explores this ...