First evidence that birds tweet using grammar

First evidence that birds tweet using grammar

18:00 26 June 2011 by Andy Coghlan

They may not have verbs, nouns or past participles, but birds challenge the notion that humans aloneMovie Camera have evolved grammatical rules.

Bengal finches have their own versions of such rules – known as syntax – says Kentaro Abe of Kyoto University, Japan. "Songbirds have a spontaneous ability to process syntactic structures in their songs," he says.

To show a sense of syntax in the animals, Abe's team played jumbled "ungrammatical" remixes of finch songs to the birds and measured the response calls.

Although many animals, including dogs, parrots and apes are known to interpret and construct "sentences", and recognise human words for individual objects, Abe says that only his finches have been shown to have a form of grammar in their utterances. Similar claims have been made for whale song, however.

In the wild, Bengal finches call back vigorously whenever they hear unfamiliar songs, usually from intruding finches. In the lab, Abe and colleague Dai Watanabe of the Japan Science and Technology Agency in Saitama exploited these reactions to gauge whether finches could notice "ungrammatical" songs.

The rules

First, they played finches unfamiliar songs repeatedly until the birds got used to them and stopped overreacting. Then they jumbled up syllables within each song and replayed these versions to the birds.

"What we found was unexpected," says Abe. The birds reacted to only one of the four jumbled versions, called SEQ2, as if they noticed it violated some rule of grammar, whereas the other three remixes didn't. Almost 90 per cent of the birds tested responded in this way. "This indicates the existence of a specific rule in the sequential orderings of syllables in their songs, shared within the social community," Abe told New Scientist.

In subsequent experiments Abe showed that the rules were not innate – they had to be learned. Birds raised in isolation failed to react to SEQ2 until they had spent two weeks with other birds. He also taught birds unnatural grammatical rules by habituating them to one of his jumbled versions, then gauging their reactions to remixed versions that violated the "artificial" rules.

Finally, Abe chemically destroyed an area of the brain called the anterior nidopallium in some birds, and was thereby able to demonstrate that it is vital for registering faulty grammar. In humans, a region called Broca's area is activated when we hear ungrammatical sentences, so Abe suggests that studying the counterpart region in finches might throw new light on the origins of human grammar.

Bird words?

Constance Scharff, who works on birdsong at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, says the work is important because it is often claimed that humans are the only species that uses grammar.

"It's an ingenious experiment showing that birds are sensitive to changes in song that are consistent with different grammars," she says. "More and more, we are seeing similarities between humans and animals, and that makes some people uneasy."

Journal reference: Nature Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1038/nn.2869

Family of Finches!!

This morning on the back porch we saw a male with his family. The babies were beating their wings and demanding to be fed!

What Birds Teach Us: Don't Take Them -- or the Future -- for Granted

David Yarnold
President, National Audubon Society
Posted: 06/23/11

The bird you heard singing or saw overhead today? It's pretty easy to take it for granted, but in fact, it might have traveled thousands of miles to get to your house.

It might have been to places where you'd need a passport and vaccinations to visit. Those ducks that show up every winter in your local park? It's likely they were hatched in the Arctic tundra. When you stop to think about it, birds are the last connection to the wild for many of us. And the arrival and departure of birds -- particularly during their heroic migrations -- is a link to nature's rhythms.

But that bond can be broken. We are seeing fewer and fewer migratory birds, even many so-called common species. That's because they depend on a chain of food and rest stops, whether they travel up the Mississippi River or along the Atlantic or Pacific coasts. Break enough links in the chain, and birds die -- or are never born.

The Eastern Meadowlark's four-note call (it sounds like we'ee SEE you) is a classic spring birdsong. Like a super-hero's costume, the meadowlark has a brilliant yellow breast emblazoned with a black V.

But the meadowlark is no super-hero. In fact, it is in mortal danger. Four decades ago, there were an estimated 24 million Eastern Meadowlarks in the wild. Today that number has fallen to fewer than 7 million.

The meadowlark is an indirect victim of American dependence on foreign oil. As oil prices have skyrocketed, farmers have switched over their fields to grow corn for ethanol. Cornfields make poor meadowlark habitats. The chain is broken.

On the West Coast, the Rufous Hummingbird faces similar threats. The Rufous is a tiny, almost all cinnamon-colored bird (males have a red throat), found wherever flowers are near, from dense forests to sunny gardens in southern Alaska to northern California. Tiny and mighty, Rufous Hummingbirds migrate thousands of miles down the West Coast, to spend the winter in Mexico.

The Rufous Hummingbird breeds in Alaska and in the Pacific Northwest, where logging and urban sprawl have degraded its habitat. Current estimates suggest its numbers are crashing: having fallen by nearly 60 percent over the past four decades.

In all, my colleagues at National Audubon Society have identified more than 20 birds, once common, whose numbers have plummeted since the mid-1960s. They are victims of a growing list of threats, including disruption in our climate, conversion of pastures and meadows to farmland, urban sprawl, pollution, logging, and other human causes. (Here's a link to that list.)

Why should you care about that bird pecking in your front yard or about the Rufous or the meadowlark? Because thriving birds = thriving ecosystems. And thriving ecosystems = clean air, clean water, abundant food and great habitat. And those are places where people thrive, too. This isn't just about doing what's best for birds; it's about doing what's best for our kids and the generations to follow.

David Yarnold is President & CEO of Audubon.


Follow David Yarnold on Twitter: www.twitter.com/deewhy2

Bluebird Love

I'm sitting outside, watching Papa Bluebird standing on the top of the nesting box, keeping a close eye on one of his fledglings as he/she explores the ground. What a lovely sight!!

Nesting Updates

The Barn Swallows are hatching today; as of 8 p.m., three of the five have hatched!



The two Eastern Bluebird chicks are getting quite big and I suspect they will be out into the big wide world soon enough.



The Tree Swallows have five babies hatched. I love those little faces!



The House Wrens have five babies in their box as well.



We've also seen fledgling Grackles (and unfortunately House Sparrows and Starlings). We know that all the Woodpeckers (Hairy, Downy and Red-bellied) must have young nearby as they are taking big chunks of suet in their beaks and flying off with it. The Cardinals look like they have nested elsewhere nearby (after a previous failed nest), and I've seen the male feeding the female. The male and female Grosbeaks and Chipping Sparrows have both been caught in the act as well. We also observed a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird doing his little dance for the female. Dave saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch gathering nesting material awhile back as well. We are certain there are lots of nests and egg laying going on!

Congratulations to all the new mama and papa birds who are working so hard to feed and raise their young!

Bobolinks - an informal survey

Dave and I did an informal survey of the area from Britannia and 4th Line to Lower Base Line, back up Fifth Line to Britannia. Here is a map with recent sightings.


We weren't expecting to see much, but in fact we did! 35 male and 2 female Bobolinks! Most were too far out for our point and shoot camera to pick them up, but we could see clearly with our binoculars.





And 3 Eastern Meadowlarks as well.







We submitted these to Conservation Halton as part of their call for sightings of these species.

And in just because, I'm including some pics of Turkey Vultures we saw in a field. They were feasting away on what we think was a raccoon.

Birding at Bronte

Late in the day yesterday, we decided to make a trip over to the east side of Bronte Creek Provincial Park. Here's a list of our sightings:

Barn Swallows (and a nest they built over an outdoor restroom light)
Eastern Kingbirds
Blue Jays (including one on a nest- the first Blue Jay nest we've ever seen)
Song Sparrows
Great Crested Flycatchers
Swamp Sparrow- NEW TO OUR LIFE LIST! There was a pair of them and one had food in it's beak. We assume there was a nest nearby.





Am. Robins
Eastern Bluebirds
Orchard Orioles- a male and female pair. This was a first of the year sighting for us and the first female we have ever seen. We haven't had Orchard Orioles at the house in 2 years.



Pair of Hawks- likely Red-tailed

Bobolink updates

From Conservation Halton

Can you help us find these two birds?
We're looking for your observations of these two distinctive birds throughout the Conservation Halton Watershed. Both species, Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) and Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) have recently been listed as a species at risk.

As part of CH's continued commitment to monitor, protect and restore species at risk, we're looking for your help to tell us if you see the Bobolink, or the Eastern Meadowlark. Our ecology staff are conducting surveys for these species, but the more eyes the better.

The males of both species are easy to identify and are most commonly found in hayfields, meadows and on fenceposts (especially the meadowlark). The Bobolink is mainly black in colour, and the Eastern Meadowlark is primarily yellow.

If you see either of these birds between now and the end of July (breeding bird season runs from May 1 to July 31) send your observations to Conservation Halton. Please include date, observation details and location when reporting. Observations can by sent by e-mail nfinney(at)hrca.on.ca or online on the CH Species at Risk Form.

This survey will give us a greater understanding of the habitat use and distribution of these species in Halton, enabling ecologists to better plan and protect these species.

Back to me:

It's great to see that there is a call for this information. When I filled out the form for Bobolink sightings last year, I just got a "thanks for letting us know" and didn't hear back about any action/plans to help these birds. It's been very frustrating, but a call for help on Facebook gave me some great suggestions from friends.

However, I would like to thank Oakvillegreen and Friends of Glenorchy for their ongoing support and advice. It's nice to feel we're not alone in this. I'd like to thank Nolan from North Shore Bird and Nest Watch for his advice on looking for nests etc. And to my friends who replied with suggestions and ideas on Facebook- thank you very much! I was given some practical advice and some contact suggestions. I appreciate the green-minded people in my life!

The Milton Champion is coming out today to do a story on the Bobolinks in the area. I'm hoping to stress that the widening and expanding of Britannia and James Snow Parkway will directly impact this species by fragmenting and destroying nesting grounds. Lose the land, lose the birds. It's as simple as that.

Female Bobolinks on the fence line along Lower Base Line:



and a Savannah Sparrow. I'm just including the picture because I really like the composition and wanted to share it:

Nest Check- June 5, 2011

Looks like our Bluebirda had two of their three eggs hatch. We have seen a very busy papa Bluebird coming and going to the nesting box. We haven't seen the female in a few days (not that we've been watching all day, every day, but we were out front most of Sunday and didn't see her). If something happened to her, would the male take over caring for the young? Does anyone know about that in terms of Bluebird behaviour?





Dave was continually dive-bombed by the Tree Swallows when he checked on their box. Looks like five eggs. Very exciting!!







The House Wren also has five eggs





As do the Barn Swallows!!