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Songs and Calls
Only a few species of birds have no voice–storks, pelicans, and some vultures. Most birds
produce some sort of vocal sound. The Passeriformes (perching birds,songbirds) are noted for
their singing ability. Many birds are restricted to vocal sounds rather than songs or calls.
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The songbirds have the greatest number of muscles in the syrinx (4-9
pairs) while most other bird groups have only one pair. In general, the
complexity of the syringial muscles is related to the complexity of the songs
a bird can produce. But there are exceptions such as the American Crow,
which has seven pairs of syringial muscles but a limited voice. Parrots on
the other hand, can mimic the human voice and only have three pairs of
syringial muscles.
Function of Song
The calls may be very different. In the case of Chaffinches (below), they
mob a predator with low pitched sounds described as ‘chink’ calls. But
when they are in cover, the birds give a high-pitched thin note called a
‘seeet’ call which causes the birds to seek cover. The difference is that the
chink note is easy to locate because of its low frequencies that differ in
phase while the seeet call is composed of high frequencies which don’t allow
it to be located because it is composed of high frequencies with little phase
difference.
Many birds have warning calls that are species-specific. Crows give a
warning call that will frighten away only other crows – this call has been
recorded and used to scare other crows from cornfields.
Starlings roost in trees in cities and can be pests; they can also be driven
away by species-specific calls – Robins and Grackles in the same flock are
not affected. But in other cases, such as that of the Herring Gull, their alarm
call will also scare away the Great Black-backed and the Laughing Gulls.
Parent birds can call to their young to make them ‘freeze’ in the
presence of a predator, swim, peck at food, etc. Young birds can vocalize in
such a way as to stimulate a parent to feed them, etc.
Song is typically the function of the male, but there are many exceptions.
The female Mockingbird, Cardinal, and Black-headed Grosbeaks have
songs as complex as the males’. In the phalaropes, where sexual
dimorphism and courtship roles are reversed, the female only sings. And if
females hold individual territories in the winter, they may sing then even
though they don’t sing during the breeding season.
Song Variation
Each bird species exhibits a more or less characteristic song, but the
song varies by age, sex, geographic location, and time of year.
Ecology of Song
Males of many bird species use a singing post to call their mate or
establish territory from – tree. post, wire, etc. Other birds the live in
grasslands like the Horned Lark or Bobolink have a flight song. Birds living
in dense vegetation such as in rainforests or thick reed beds have loud
voices since vegetation absorbs sound as well as obstructs vision. So birds
have evolved calls and songs at least partly in response to the structure of
the habitat in which the call is given. Weather also has an influence on bird
song. Both cool and hot weather decrease the amount of singing, as do rain
and wind.
A few species such as the Red-eyed Vireo sing more or less all day.
But most birds sing more vigorously in the early morning and evening
when there is less light. Some species sing at night, such as the
Mockingbird and Nightingale. The amount of light (photoperiod) rather
than the time of day determines the beginning and end of singing.
Cloudiness in the morning, for instance, will delay singing. Different bird
species react to different amounts of sunlight. So some species in a
particular area will begin to sing before others chime in (Dawn Chorus).
The dawn chorus may begin at different times each day, depending on the
amount of light, but the bird species will begin singing in the same order.
If a male bird renests or its mate is killed, it resumes full singing. In the
fall after the breeding season, the bird stops unless it holds a winter
territory.
Generally, calls are genetic while songs are partly inherited and partly
learned. Many studies have been done of song development; the classic one
is the one done in England on the Chaffinch. The full song of the male
Chaffinch performs the function of keeping other males from its territory
and attracting females. This song is described as: ‘chip-chip-chip, tell-tell-
tell, cherry-erry-erry, tissy-chee-wee-oo’
When a young Chaffinch is taken from the nest and reared separately
out of hearing of all Chaffinch song, its song development is greatly
restricted. The bird eventually produces a song of about the normal length
(2-3 seconds), but it fails to divide the first part of the song into phrases as
a normally-reared Chaffinch does; or it does not end the song with the
normal elaborate flourish. This simple, restricted song of the isolated bird
represents the genetic basis of the Chaffinch’s song.
Song Mimicry
Evolution of Song
Non-vocal Sounds
The Passerines have the most well-developed songs and calls, but
other birds with less vocal abilities have developed other sounds. Kiwis
stamp their feed when annoyed. Boat-billed Herons, Storks, and
Albatrosses rattle or clap their bills. Woodpeckers drum. The Ruffed Grouse
drums with its wings. The nighthawk and hummingbirds often make
sounds with their wings or tails. A number of birds make whistling sounds
as they fly through the air- may or may not serve a purpose.
More on songs from PBS. Some links:
Songs –
American Bird Patuxent
Sounds Wildlife Res.
Center
1.
DR. ROGER LEDERER
AUGUST 10, 2016 AT 6:51 AM
Birds respond to the amount of light. A little amount of morning light gets
some birds to sing, then more light gets more birds to sing, and so on. This is
called the dawn chorus. Mockingbirds need very little light to stimulate them so
they even sing with moonlight. Why the morning? There’s no point in a bird
singing in the dark if it can’t see potential predators or competitors or mates.
Reply
2.
ANDREAS SEYFANG
FEBRUARY 19, 2017 AT 10:30 AM
Why there is much more bird song activity and variety in Europe than in North America? I
grew up in Germany and now live in the US (both Oregon/temperate climate and
Florida/subtropical climate) and noticed the remarkably fewer and less melodious song
activity compared with Central and Mediterranean Europe (e.g., like nightingale, European
robin, warblers, thrushes etc.).
Reply
1.
ULF ELMAN
MARCH 30, 2020 AT 2:21 AM
Andreas,
I saw the last interview ever made with Aleksandr Solzjenitsyn, one made after
his return to Russia. He said that what he missed the most during his years in
exile in North America was the dawn chorus, and he claimed the dawn chorus in
Europe was far louder than what he experienced during his exile.
Of course, Aleksandr was a young man, presumably with perfect hearing, during
his youth in Russia, and may possibly have suffered from reduced hearing
during his years in North America. This could explain his view, which then would
be incorrect.
Your comment in this forum is the only other reference to this phenomenon I’ve
encountered. Is it really so? If so, have you found an explanation?
Reply
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Accurate information about wild birds from a professional ornithologist. He has published 30
research papers and eleven books, among them: Amazing Birds, Birds of New England, Bird
Finder, Pacific Coast Bird Finder, Latin for Bird Lovers, Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs, and The Art of
the Bird : Ornithological History Through Forty Artists. He has also consulted and has spoken on
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The Nervous System and Senses
Vulturine Guineafowl
A bird’s brain is similar to that of mammal’s but there are difference in the acuity of the senses,
especially sight. In addition, the cerebrum, the “thinking ” part of the brain is not as well
developed because birds are more instinctive than learners. But their cerebellum, the center of
mechanical coordination, is well developed for flight.
SIGHT
Birds are highly visual animals; they have to be to be able to fly. The importance of birds’ eyes is
implied by their size – they are the largest relative to the body of all animals. Some hawks and
owls have eyes as large as human eyes. The eyes of the ostrich, at 50 mm in diameter are the
largest of any land vertebrate. In some owls, the eyes comprise up to 1/3 of the total weight of
the head. In the Starling, the eyes comprise 15% of the head weight; in humans it is only about
1%. In most aspects, the avian eye structure resembles that of mammals.
The eyes of a bird are able to adjust to the light about 2x as well as that of a 20 year old human.
The lens is very flexible in most birds and can change shape readily – birds need to focus near
and far and change rapidly. The entire eye also varies in shape form flat to round to tubular
(hawks and owl); the shape is maintained by a ring of overlapping bony plates.
The retina is the sensitive layer of the eye that absorbs the incoming light, senses it, integrates
the information in it, and sends this information to the brain. The entire retina is thicker than that
of mammals and the rods and cones are more abundant. Cones are for color and rods are for
black and white and dim light. The distribution and density and proportion of rods to cones
varies with the species of bird. Diurnal birds have retinas dominated by cones while nocturnal
birds have mostly rods. Many hawks and owls have more sensory cells in the upper half of the
eye that receives more light when the birds look down.Color vision varies among birds; some, but
not all, see color. Hummingbirds, like insects, can see ultraviolet light.
Any part of the retina that has a denser concentration of receptor cells
perceives sharper images. One such area of densely packed cells is called
a fovea. Not only are the cells denser in that area but the pit shape serves to
refract the light so that a larger image is formed. Humans have a fovea;
when you focus directly on an object the image falls on the fovea- that’s why
peripheral vision is weak. Overlapping of the visual fields of the two eyes
produces binocular vision and depth perception. Most birds have a one-
fovea eye that functions similarly to ours, but many birds are bifoveal. One
fovea birds have the fovea located near the place where the optic nerve
enters the eye- a central fovea. In the birds with two foveas, especially those
that need to be good judges of speed and distance, the second fovea is
located in the temporal region of the eye. This is typical of birds of open
country- hawks, eagles, terns, parrots, swallows, doves. This additional
temporal fovea broadens the width of sharp focus and helps to judge speed
and distance; e.g.’ hawks, terns, parrots, swifts, and hummingbirds. A few
birds even have a third fovea – a few terns and swallows. A few other
species of birds have only one poorly developed fovea – owls and
sandpipers and thus bob their head to gain perspective.
There has been a lot of debate regarding the acuteness of avian vision.
It appears that it is better than human vision but perhaps not significantly
so. A vulture sees about as sharply as humans but a chicken appears to see
about 1/25th as well as humans and the hawks and songbirds see about
21/2 times as sharply. But with a double fovea, birds can keep track of a
moving object easier than can a human. Pigeons, e.g., can detect movement
as slow as 15 degrees per hour.
The density of receptor cells in the retina also allows birds to see in very
dim light. Barn Owls can see an object at 2 meters with an illumination
of .00000073 foot candles. This is equivalent to a person seeing an object
by the light of a match a mile away.
HEARING
Birds’ ears are divided into three parts -external , middle, and inner.
Owls can detect prey in total darkness with an error of only 1 horizontal
0
and vertical. Owls can also change the position of their auricular feathers
and to some extent the shape of their ear. The heart-shaped face of the owl
helps collect sound and direct it to the ears.
The frequency range of sound waves a single bird species can receive is
narrower than that of mammals. Birds are less sensitive to the high and low
ends of their range than mammals, but in the middle frequencies it is
similar. However, birds are about 10x as sensitive to rapid fluctuations in
pitch and intensity than humans. Birds can distinguish between frequencies
that differ by 1% or less and they can distinguish between sounds separated
in time by only .6 to 2.5 milliseconds.
A few birds use echolocation, like bats. The Oilbird and the Cave
Swiftlet of southeast Asia are examples. They use echolocation to navigate
but not to catch prey. Recent evidence indicates, however, that penguins
can locate prey via echolocation.
OLFACTION
Both Darwin and Audubon showed that vultures did not find carcasses
if they were covered. Audubon painted a picture of a dead sheep and
vultures tried to eat it. There is also an anecdote about Black Vultures
attacking and eating a spraying skunk. And migrating vultures have been
disoriented by releasing smells into the air.
Birds have been tested for their ability to smell by training them to
discriminate between odorless and odorous air; e.g. pigeons were trained to
peck at a disc when they smelled an odor. Vultures can smell carrion
because carrion emits the gas ethyl mercaptan; some enterprising engineers
put ethyl mercaptan in a gas line to detect leaks and found them when they
saw vultures circling over a part of the gas line.
In general, olfactory senses of birds are poor, but there are exceptions
and we might just think they are poor because we don’t have evidence.
TASTE
Salt – For most birds there is a variety of salt discrimination levels. For sea
birds tolerance for salt water is high; they can excrete excess salt through
their nasal glands although they will drink fresh water in preference to salt
water if given the choice.
Bitter– Again, a variety of responses. The classic study was done by Brower
in 1969. Many species of milkweeds contain cardiac glycosides. If the
milkweed is eaten by an animal the heart rate drops but the beat is
stronger; a large enough dose is fatal. But 1/2 the fatal dose causes vomiting
so an animal will throw up before it absorbs a lethal dose. Many animals
learn, then, not to eat milkweeds. Some insects, however, can eat the plants
with no apparent side effects. One is the caterpillar of the Monarch
Butterfly. Brower raised Monarchs in captivity; some on milkweed and
some on cabbage, which has no cardiac glycosides. The cabbage-raised
butterflies were fed to Blue Jays and they ate them with no ill effects. Then
the birds were offered the monarchs raised on milkweed; 12 minutes later
the Blue Jays became violently ill, vomited, but recovered in 1/2 hour. Then
the Blue Jays would reject all Monarchs introduced into the cages, no
matter how they were raised. If starved, the Blue Jays would capture and
pick at the butterflies to taste them first.
The point of this is that birds can taste bitter and will learn to associate
bitter with plants or animals and avoid them. Both the predator and prey
benefit as the prey doesn’t get eaten and the predator doesn’t get sick and
waste time eating them.
TOUCH
The central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) is arranged and
works similarly to that of mammals. Its job is to integrate sensory impulses
from the environment, to stored learned information, and to coordinate
voluntary and involuntary functions and movements.
In the brain, the optic lobes are large and the olfactory lobes small,
correlating with their senses.
1.
GRETTA
DECEMBER 15, 2016 AT 11:56 AM
hello, I am a 5th grader at stem academy in fond du lac Wisconsin, I am curantly doing a
project on hawks, because I have a sharp shinned hawk, living very near me. I would like
to know more about the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM so that I can meet my standard. If
you could reply to this I would very much love that. I do not have a web site, so I put in
my email!!!!
Reply
1.
DR. ROGER LEDERER
DECEMBER 20, 2016 AT 3:26 AM
You can read about the central nervous system in an anatomy or ornithology
book. It is too much for me to try and explain it here.
Reply
2.
KNAAL
MAY 27, 2018 AT 4:38 PM
i heard that humans can only use half of their true muscle strength because our brains
limit how much strength we can use. Do the brains of birds also limit their strength in the
same way?
Reply
1.
DR. ROGER LEDERER
MAY 29, 2018 AT 3:43 PM
I have never heard of either humans or birds brains controlling muscle strength
but it makes some sense. But bird brains are much more about muscle control
and coordination than humans are. Could make a difference.
Reply
3.
SHAFAQ AFROZ
NOVEMBER 28, 2019 AT 11:14 PM
Hey,
I was exactly searching for the working of the nervous system of animals, and your article
is worth reading.
thank you.
Reply
4. Pingback: Can Birds See at Night? Everything You Need to Know - Bird Watching Pro
5.
JACK LOGAN
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 AT 1:14 PM
Can birds lose their sight too just like humans?
Reply
1.
DR. ROGER LEDERER
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 AT 1:59 PM
Yes, disease or accident. A fatal flaw.
Reply
6.
PAT
FEBRUARY 14, 2024 AT 7:12 AM
Things about birds we always wondered!
Excellent web site!
Reply
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About Us
Accurate information about wild birds from a professional ornithologist. He has published 30
research papers and eleven books, among them: Amazing Birds, Birds of New England, Bird
Finder, Pacific Coast Bird Finder, Latin for Bird Lovers, Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs, and The Art of
the Bird : Ornithological History Through Forty Artists. He has also consulted and has spoken on
admin@ornithology.com
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Territoriality of Birds
A home range is anywhere a bird happens to wander – basically anywhere in its appropriate
habitat. A territory is a defended area within that home range and is is typical of songbirds but it
is also found in a number of other orders of birds. A territory may be held by one bird, a pair, or a
flock. It may be held for all or only part of a year. It may be very large such as those held by
eagles and provide all the resources the bird needs or only a part and be very small such as
nesting territories of cliff-nesting birds such as kittiwakes. It may be vigorously defended or
loosely guarded. Depending on the abundance of the resources, a territory might be closely held
one year and not at all the next. Typically, territories are defended against others of the same
species but may also be defended against other species.
Purposes of Territories:
2. Pair formation facilitation – the male can advertise for and attract a
female with a quality territory and perhaps nest. Yellow-headed Blackbirds
and Red-winged Blackbirds.
7 .32
8 .17
25 .14
The size of territories varies with the individual, the species, and
the environmental conditions. Most territories tend to be more or less
circular but the shape varies. Stream bank feeders such as the kingfisher
have linear territories. Birds that feed on animal food have larger territories
than those that feed on plant food. So there are maximum and minimum
sizes of territories, the maximum size being controlled by defensibility and
the minimum by density of resources.
The amount of aggressiveness in defense of the territory also varies. It
may be more advantageous to strongly defend a high quality territory than
weakly defend a poor one.
Since the number of territories in a given year may reach its maximum
in peak years, there may be “extra” individuals -floaters- without territories.
In 1951 Hensley and Cope shot all the male warblers of an eastern spruce-
fir forest and found that they were almost all immediately replaced.
Replacement is usually, but not always, restricted to males.
Territories obviously affect the social system of birds. The male Fiery-
throated Hummingbird of Costa Rica and Panama holds a territory; the
female is attracted to the flowers in that territory, but feeds on different
flowers than the male. The female selects the territories on the basis of the
best food source (rather than the attractiveness of the male). Thus the male
that is most aggressive is selected for by evolution.
The Marsh Wren is polygamous, the male mating with 1, 2 or 3
females. The sex ratio is 1: 1, so some males go without mates. Again, the
females select the males on the basis of the quality of the territory – food
and nest sites. The females will share a male rather than choosing an
unmated male if the former male has a better territory than the unmated
male in a marginal one.
Why do some birds repeatedly fly into windows, glass doors, and
automobile mirrors?
When birds establish territories in the spring, they do so by chasing out
intruders. The birds they are most concerned about are those of their own
species because birds of the same species compete for the same resources –
nest sites, food, mates, etc. Once the territory is established, it is
maintained by singing and chasing intruders, often very vigorously. Any
objects such as windows and glass doors and auto mirrors which reflect the
bird’s image give the territorial bird the impression that there is another
bird in their territory. And since it is usually the male that establishes and
defends territories, other males are the greatest threat, and, of course, a
male sees another male in the window or mirror.
It seems that they do not quickly learn the other bird is a reflection and will
repeatedly fly against the door, window or mirror, occasionally injuring
themselves. They will eventually stop, either because they finally learned
the image is no threat or it is not necessary to continue to defend a territory
as the young have left the nest. What can you do? The answer is simple but
may not be easy to accomplish: eliminate the reflection.
16 thoughts on “Territoriality of Birds”
1.
RYOH MUROFUSHI
NOVEMBER 18, 2018 AT 8:47 PM
Hello, I am curious to find out who coined the terms for the different territories. If I
wanted to read more about the topic, who should I study?
Reply
1.
DR. ROGER LEDERER
NOVEMBER 19, 2018 AT 1:41 PM
Every ornithology textbook has good information on territories. Search google
for Avian territories and for more scientific information search google scholar
for research papers. I believe Margaret Nice created the first categories of
territories about 1947.
Reply
2.
RYOH MUROFUSHI
NOVEMBER 19, 2018 AT 9:24 PM
Thank you, Dr. Lederer. I have searched the net since posting the comment and have
found material by Nice and Brown which I would love to read but these online journals
today are very expensive. To think, Nice and Brown most likely wrote the material to be
shared by everyone and now some company is reaping the benefits of someone else’s
work. Thanks for your help. The search Continues.
Reply
3.
RYOH MUROFUSHI
DECEMBER 18, 2018 AT 5:45 PM
Is there a site where I can find or read the following two research papers?
Nice, M. M. 1941. The role of territory in bird life. Am. Midl. Nat. 26:441–487.
Nice, M. M. 1943. Studies in the life history of the Song Sparrow. II. The behavior of the
Song Sparrow and other passerine birds. Trans. Linn. Soc. N.Y. 6:1–328.
I am trying to find published studies on territories of birds and the only place I can find
anything written about them is on this site and Wikipedia. Wikipedia clearly defines 6
territories as this site does but where did these ideologies come from?
Reply
4.
RYOH MUROFUSHI
DECEMBER 18, 2018 AT 6:13 PM
My apologies I decided to leave two comments to explain my problem.
On this site, it states that 1. is the All-purpose territory which Wikipedia calls Type A. This
territory is called Type A also by Wilson 1975 and Mayr 1935. The problem occurs in the
slight differences between Type C and Type D. This site states that 3. is for mating and 4.
is for nesting. Which I assume 4. includes the nest and the small area surrounding the
nest. Wikipedia reverses these territories and says Type C is used for nesting, including
the surrounding area and Type D which is used for mating and pairing. Mayr 1935
supports this sites views on territory and Wilson 1975 supports Wikipedia. Or I should say
Wikipedia supports Wilson.
My question is why is there a slight difference between authors? I would write more but I
am afraid of taking up too much time. Mayr and Wilson have differences in other
territories.
Reply
1.
DR. ROGER LEDERER
DECEMBER 19, 2018 AT 8:55 AM
Hi Ryoh. The explanation lies in the fact that the authors try to define territories
in a few simple categories when in reality, all territories differ by a little in one
way or another. I’m sure you can find differences between different species of
gulls, for example. So there is some difference in the interpretation of the
various authors. Wikipedia, in my opinion, is a pretty good source of
ornithological information but if you want to dig into the subject matter in
detail, go to Google Scholar and search for scientific papers. I’m sure you can
find considerable information on the topic. For example: Changes in the size of
avian breeding territories in relation to the nesting cycle by Anders PapeMøller
and Sizes of Feeding Territories among Birds by Thomas W. Schoener. And a lot
more.
Reply
1.
RYOH MUROFUSHI
JANUARY 21, 2019 AT 6:52 PM
I see! Said the blind man. I should say of course. Slight differences
occur in many of the raptors I research. So many tiny details which
separate species are in turn the tiny details which cause the
differentiation in territories. Once again, I appreciate your time and the
valuable insight. Thank you.
Reply
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13.
ZAISH
JANUARY 27, 2024 AT 2:20 AM
Yeah! Finally I got it.
Basically I was in search to the answer of question Why do some birds repeatedly fly into
windows, glass doors, and automobile mirrors?
Which i found here. Really a comprehensive answer I found. Thank you for sharing this
helpful information.
Reply
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Accurate information about wild birds from a professional ornithologist. He has published 30
research papers and eleven books, among them: Amazing Birds, Birds of New England, Bird
Finder, Pacific Coast Bird Finder, Latin for Bird Lovers, Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs, and The Art of
the Bird : Ornithological History Through Forty Artists. He has also consulted and has spoken on
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