Zebra finches have a more complex way of communicating than previously thought. A new study published in the journal Science found that the sociable songbird does not just recognize and organize ...

In his home office in Durham, Duke neuroscientist Richard Mooney shows a series of images of a bird's brain on song. In one, what looks like a pointillist painting illustrates a young zebra finch's ...

Zebra finches sing their young into biological preparedness for hot weather, all before they even leave the egg. As the heat punishes sun-crisped Australian woodlands, the adult birds make a rapid, ...

When most of us hear birds chirping, we may assume it’s just simple background noise. However, a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that at least one small songbird is ...

When babies learn to talk or birds learn to sing, the same principle applies: listen and then imitate. This is how the first babble becomes the first word or vocalization. Male zebra finch chicks ...

Zebra finches can not only distinguish the full range of their species’ vocalizations but also organize them by meaning, according to a new study. The results suggest a surprising level of semantic ...

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 ...

Three male and two female zebra finches, including two mating pairs. Females are typically all gray, though here one female is a white morph. Males are colorful, with red cheeks, zebra stripes on ...

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 ...

We are all born completely helpless, with little of the knowledge and skills we will need to survive as adults. Even our ability to communicate is almost entirely learned from our parents or ...

When a bird spots a predator and emits an alarm call, do its neighbors think “predator” and then react? Or do they automatically freeze or fly away because that’s what they’re wired to do?