Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Boglebaum Here, many bird watchers, or
Speaker 1: should I say bird listeners, believe that a singing bird
Speaker 1: must be a male bird. But it's not true, and
Speaker 1: that misconception might mean we're missing out on a lot
Speaker 1: of fascinating research, not just about birds, but how brains
Speaker 1: in general handle communication. Traditionally, female songbirds have been overlooked
Speaker 1: because more males of various species sing overall, and it's
Speaker 1: been thought to be a behavior of males attracting females
Speaker 1: and defending territory audibly marking a space as theirs. But
Speaker 1: the ratio isn't overwhelmingly in favor of males, as it
Speaker 1: turns out. For the article of this episode is based
Speaker 1: on has to Work. Spoke by email with Lauren Benedict,
Speaker 1: a University of Northern Colorado biology professor. She said, worldwide,
Speaker 1: we think that females sing and about two thirds of
Speaker 1: all songbird species. That's a pretty rough estimate though, because
Speaker 1: for the majority of all birds species, we don't have
Speaker 1: enough information to even determine whether females sing. In species
Speaker 1: where males and females look alike, it can be hard
Speaker 1: to know which sex is doing the singing of these
Speaker 1: six hundred and sixty song bird species that feature female song.
Speaker 1: As of eighteen, recordings had only been made for about
Speaker 1: two hundred An additional three thousand, five hundred species have
Speaker 1: yet to be studied to determine whether their ladies sing
Speaker 1: or not. The male female study disparity may have initially
Speaker 1: occurred because more research hours are devoted to birds in
Speaker 1: temperate regions, where females are less likely to sing. How
Speaker 1: Stuff Works also spoke with Karen Odom, a behavioral ecologist.
Speaker 1: She said this may be because male and female roles
Speaker 1: are separated because of the short breeding season. Males show
Speaker 1: up and sing to attract females and defend territories, whereas
Speaker 1: females spend more time devoted to building and attending to
Speaker 1: the nest. However, in the tropics we see a very
Speaker 1: different pattern. Both males and females of many songbird species sing,
Speaker 1: and they do this a large part of the year.
Speaker 1: This is an important distinction because most bird species live
Speaker 1: in the tropics. These tropical birds sometimes keep the same
Speaker 1: mate in territory for years, so there are reasons for
Speaker 1: singing may be different than those of their temperate relatives.
Speaker 1: Odom said, based on what we do know, female birds
Speaker 1: sing for reasons similar to males. In one species, females
Speaker 1: are known to attract males with their songs, and in
Speaker 1: other species, females appear to use songs to defend territories. However,
Speaker 1: females may also sing for broader reasons, such as to
Speaker 1: defend resources year round, possibly for herself or her offspring.
Speaker 1: Compared to male bird song, we know very little about
Speaker 1: female bird song, which is why more studies are needed.
Speaker 1: A Benedict said, where sing out on a lot of
Speaker 1: really interesting information about bird behavior and communication. The bird
Speaker 1: song is a learned, complex signaling system that has many
Speaker 1: parallels with human language, and so far we've answered fascinating
Speaker 1: questions about how male brains helped them to communicate, but
Speaker 1: I think the same questions should be asked about females.
Speaker 1: A better understanding of female songbird habits could demystify how
Speaker 1: behaviors evolve over time in relation to mating behavior and habitat.
Speaker 1: Knowing the difference between male and female song can also
Speaker 1: help with estimating bird population sizes, and that's critical for
Speaker 1: the worldwide conservation effort. Benedict said, having good documentation of
Speaker 1: female song will give us powerful tools for helping to
Speaker 1: protect wild bird populations. If we can track male and
Speaker 1: female behavior by listening to the songs of both sexes,
Speaker 1: will learn a lot more than if we only listen
Speaker 1: to males. Odom and Benedict published a sort of called arms,
Speaker 1: or rather call to recording devices in a paper in
Speaker 1: and since then, researchers and citizen scientists alike have taken
Speaker 1: up that call no pun intended, and to learn more
Speaker 1: and even participate in the effort, check out the website
Speaker 1: female bird song dot org. Today's episode is based on
Speaker 1: the article we Need to Know Why the Female bird
Speaker 1: Sangs on house to works dot com, written by Leo Hoyt.
Speaker 1: Green Stuff is production of I Heart Radio and partnership
Speaker 1: with how stuff works. Dot Com is produced by Tyler
Speaker 1: Playing and Ramsey Yeah. Before more podcasts my heart Radio,
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