Birdsong (source code)

= Birdsong

<Birdsong> is patterned vocal behaviour used by <birds> in contexts such as territorial defence and mate attraction. Song production, auditory recognition and acquisition of a local song pattern are different processes. In many songbirds, hearing other individuals during development contributes to the song later produced.

In controlled chaffinch studies, hand-reared <birds> exposed to different auditory examples developed different song patterns. Artificial tutor sequences assembled from suitable notes could also be incorporated. This made auditory experience experimentally separable from the species-typical constraints on what could be learned. <The learning of song patterns by birds, with especial reference to the song of the chaffinch Fringilla coelebs by W. H. Thorpe>[1958, summary: hand-reared birds and artificial Song Tutor sequences]{ref} The comparison does not imply that every <bird> learns its vocalizations in the same way.