Chester Zoo helps crack a birdsong mystery
Birdsong may be more like human language than previously thought, according to new research involving Chester Zoo.
A study led by The University of Manchester, published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology, found that birds follow Zipf’s Law of Abbreviation – a rule in human language where commonly used sounds or words tend to be shorter.
Lead author Dr Tucker Gilman, Senior Lecturer at The University of Manchester, said: “In human language, if we say something a lot, we tend to shorten it – like saying ‘TV’ instead of ‘television’. It turns out that the same pattern exists in birdsong.
“We know that birds and humans share similarities in the genes and brain structures involved in learning to communicate but this is the first time we’ve been able to detect a consistent pattern of ZLA across multiple bird species. There’s still a lot more work to be done but this is an exciting development.”
To study this, researchers developed a new computational tool called ZLAvian to analyse more than 600 songs from 11 bird populations across seven species. While patterns varied between populations, the data combined showed that more frequently used song phrases were shorter on average.
Dr Rebecca Lewis, Conservation Scientist at Chester Zoo, said: “Studying ZLA in birdsong is far more complex than in human language. Birds often have very few note types, individuals even within the same species can vary widely in their repertoires, and classifying notes is tricky too. Our research has taught that it’s important to look across a wide range of species when looking for language patterns and we hope ZLAvian will make it easier for other researchers to explore these patterns in more birds but also other animals in the future.”
The researchers say more work is needed across a wider range of bird species to confirm the findings.
Check live fuel prices near you before you set off.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email news (@) deeside.com
NEW: Add Deeside.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Latest News
