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Bird Communication & Language

Kondoru said:
It seems a bit hard on them to make them listen to `I am a Cat`
Which reminds me of the once popular song, which I thought was called
"I thought I heard a pussy cat, a-creeping up on me.." (sung by a cage bird).

But to my amazement, Google doesn't seem to have heard of it!

I tried several variations, but still no joy.
Is this a memory from a past life, or a different dimension, or am I just going crazy? :shock:

Somebody please tell me you remember it as well!
 
rynner said:
Which reminds me of the once popular song, which I thought was called
"I thought I heard a pussy cat, a-creeping up on me.." (sung by a cage bird).
On second thoughts, it was called
"I thought I saw a pussy cat, a-creeping up on me.."

..but that only seems to lead to Porn Sites! :shock:

(Honest, Officer, I was looking for info about a cartoon cage-bird!)
 
What you want is "I Tawt I Taw A Puddy-Tat" by Tweetie Pie, aka Mel Blanc.
 
gncxx said:
What you want is "I Tawt I Taw A Puddy-Tat" by Tweetie Pie, aka Mel Blanc.
Straight from the horse's mouth, you might say! (I tried 'tort' but not 'tawt'!)
I TAWT I TAW A PUDDY TAT
By: Mel and Tim

Tweety:
I am a little, tiny, bird. My name is Tweety Pie.
I live inside my bird cage a-hanging way up high.
I like to swing upon my pirch and sing my little song,
But there's a tat that's after me and won't let me alone!

I taut I taw a puddy tat a creepin' up on me
I did! I taw a puddy tat as plain as he could be!

Sylvester:
I am that great big bad old cat, Sylvester is my name.
I only have one aim in life and that is very plain!
I want to catch that little bird and eat him right away,
But just as I get close to him, this is what he'll say!

I taut I taw a puddy tat a creepin' up on me
You bet he taw a puddy tat, that puddy tat is me!

Tweety:
That puddy tat is very bad, he sneaks up from behind.
I don't think I would like it if I knew what's on his mind.
I have a strong suspicion that his plans for me aren't good.
I'm inclined to think that he would eat me if he could!

Sylvester:
I'd like to eat that sweetie pie when he leaves his cage,
But I can never catch him, It throws me in a rage!
You bet I'd eat that little bird if I could just get near.
But every time that I approach, this is all I hear!

Tweety:
I taut I taw a puddy tat a creepin' up on me
I did! I taw a puddy tat as plain as he could be!

And when I sing that little song, my mistress knows he's back.
She grabs her broom and brings it down upon Sylvester's back!
So listen you bad puddy tat, let's both be friends and see
My mistress will not chase you if you sing this song with me.

Tweety (spoken): Come on now, like a good cat.
Sylvester (spoken): Oh, all right. Sufferin' Succotach!

Sylvester and Tweety together, singing:
I taut I taw a puddy tat a creepin' up on me
I did! I taw a puddy tat as plain as he could be!!

http://www.tweetyfriends.com/WebPages/FunHouse/Song.php
 
Lost British birdsong discovered in New Zealand birds
Recordings of New Zealand yellowhammer accents enable scientists to hear how their British relatives might have sounded 150 years ago
Georgia Brown
Thursday 12 January 2017 13.26 GMT

A new study reveals that a type of native birdsong, now lost in Britain, can still be heard in New Zealand where the birds were introduced in the 19th century.

By comparing recordings of yellowhammer accents in both countries scientists were able to hear how the birds’ song might have sounded in the UK 150 years ago.

The study, published in Ecography, examined yellowhammer accents in the UK and New Zealand, where over 600 of the birds were introduced in the 1860’s and 70’s and later became pests. It found some dialects that likely existed in the UK appear to have gone extinct, yet they still exist in New Zealand – a phenomenon that also occurs in human languages.
The researchers say the decline in birdsong is likely to be linked to falling yellowhammer populations in the UK.


The research was led by a Czech team, who encouraged volunteers to collect and submit recordings of singing yellowhammers using smartphones and cameras. Using these citizen science project recordings, the scientists compared the patterns of yellowhammer dialects in the native range of Great Britain, and in the invaded range of New Zealand.

The New Zealand birds had almost twice as many dialects as their British relatives, overturning the scientists’ expectations that the range of dialects would be greater in the mother country.

Lead author Pavel Pipek, of the Charles University in Prague, said: “It was fascinating to have this unique opportunity to study yellowhammer dialects from native and introduced populations and how they have evolved over 150 years.
“This phenomenon of lost birds’ dialect is an avian equivalent of what happens with human languages. For example, some English words, which are no longer spoken in Great Britain, are still in use in the former British colonies.”

Experts think the best explanation for their findings is that New Zealand yellowhammers have retained song structures which were originally from the UK. However, these dialects have subsequently been lost in the mother country, possibly due to the widespread decline in yellowhammers in the UK.


Dr Mark Eaton, RSPB principal conservation scientist and study co-author, said: “Yellowhammers are a delightful farmland bird with unmistakeable bright yellow heads. At one time they were a common sight, but sadly their numbers have declined so rapidly that nowadays they are difficult to find in many parts of the UK.

“It’s quite easy to identify the different [yellowhammer] dialects and it’s also been a great species to get recordings of calls on because they are quite a widespread species with a distinctive, pleasant song.

“It’s likely the decline in yellowhammers has led to some of their original dialects being lost, yet these have survived in the songs of the birds in New Zealand due to the abundant populations. This birdsong may therefore serve as a living archive of songs sung by yellowhammers in 19th century Britain.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...tish-birdsong-discovered-in-new-zealand-birds
 
They are very friendly birds and will follow you in numbers if you are out and about on a bicycle.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowhammer

An old legend links the yellowhammer to the Devil. Its tongue was supposed to bear a drop of his blood, and the intricate pattern on the eggs was said to carry a concealed, possibly evil, message; these satanic associations sometimes led to the persecution of the bird. The unusual appearance of the eggs also led to "scribble lark", an old name for the bird

What I'm wondering is why they were introduced to NZ in the first place? Were they once kept as pets or was it to make European settlers feel more at home?
 
This could turn out to be a big deal ... In this new study researchers believe they're detected the construction of meaningful 'words' from otherwise meaningless sounds in a species of birds. If such generative coding can be proven, it would greatly raise the estimated sophistication achievable in birds' languages.

Birds string together meaningless sounds to make 'words'
Date: September 9, 2019
Source: University of Zurich

Summary:
A new study sheds light on whether animal vocalizations, like human words, are constructed from smaller building blocks. By analyzing calls of the Australian chestnut-crowned babbler, the researchers have for the first time identified the meaning-generating building blocks of a non-human communication system. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190909160109.htm
 
The link in the original story doesn't work any more but I'll bet the budgie in question is the one in this thread if anyone is interested.

Yes - Ryan Reynolds (the researcher in that other thread) is the same person who ran the budgieresearch.com site cited in this thread's post #1.

Based on the remains archived (partially) at the Wayback Machine, the originally cited budgieresearch.com site was extinct by circa 2008, and at least some of its content migrated to parrotresearch.com, which similarly went extinct several years ago.
 
the construction of meaningful 'words' from otherwise meaningless sounds in a species of birds.

I have not yet read the linked articles, so I don't know what constitutes "meaningful" in this context.

I do have a substantial volume somewhere on my music shelves which is devoted to the analysis of birdsong as musical structures.

The author credits birds with the ability to create expositions and developments, rondos, recapitulations and other structures iirc.

I will look it up later. I don't think he suggested these art-works had much "meaning" aside from territorial-marking and mating.

I have certainly seen the bower-bird's artistic endeavours used as a metaphor for (male) human creativity. The artist was lamenting the fact that females were these days distracted by bulging wallets etc. and had no time for his symphonies . . . :violin:
 
I have not yet read the linked articles, so I don't know what constitutes "meaningful" in this context. ...

The point of the article (as I understand it) concerns the creation / generation of novel composite sounds (or, perhaps more appropriately, sound structures or sets) that are then employed as discrete signals / significations to which other birds respond coherently / consistently.

Since you invoked music ... I'd say it's analogous to composing a riff from a set of notes and having that riff (note sequence) serve as a unitary piece recognizable on its own.
 
In case you were wondering what is the loudest known birdsong ....
The Loudest Bird Sound Ever Recorded Is This Shrill Mating Call of a Bellbird

The mating call of the Brazilian white bellbird (Procnias albus) is now officially the loudest birdsong on record: averaging out at a peak of 125.4 decibels, it beats out rock concerts and chainsaws, and is way beyond the level (85 db) considered safe for human ears.

While we might not consider courting loved ones by singing loudly right into their faces, it's a flirting trick that works for this species – the loudest variation of the white bellbird call is actually saved for when a male and female are perched right alongside each other.

The researchers making field recordings of white bellbird also noted a runner-up: the screaming piha (Lipaugus vociferans) can woo females at a peak volume of around 116 db on average, and has been previously documented as the loudest passerine bird. ...
FULL STORY (WITH VIDEO):
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-b...-call-is-the-loudest-bird-sound-ever-recorded
 
Newly published research results indicate Siberian jays effectively lie by issuing arbitrary predator warnings so as to drive away members of other family / breeding groups and steal their resources. It turns out Siberian jays can discriminate between predator warnings issued by fellow clan members and warnings issued by non-related jays.
These Birds Shamelessly Lie to Their Neighbors, But Can Tell They Are Being Deceived

Siberian jays are sneaky little rascals.

These tiny corvids can use bird lies to try and trick other flocks into leaving a territory, so that the interlopers can move in and nick their food.

But it seems that other Siberian jays (Perisoreus infaustus) are also wise to this ruse. New research has found that breeding members of a family group can distinguish between the warning cries of their own flock, and the warning cries of would-be trespassers. ...
FULL STORY:
https://www.sciencealert.com/corvid...calls-of-their-own-flock-from-those-of-others

PUBLISHED REPORT:
Who do you trust? Wild birds use social knowledge to avoid being deceived
BY FILIPE C. R. CUNHA, MICHAEL GRIESSER
Science Advances 28 May 2021: Vol. 7, no. 22, eaba2862
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba2862

Abstract
Many species give deceptive warning calls, enabled by the high risk of ignoring them. In Siberian jays, a territorial, group-living bird, individuals give warning calls toward perched predators and mob them. However, intruding neighbors can emit these warning calls in the absence of predators to access food, but breeders often ignore these calls. Playback field experiments show that breeders flee sooner and return later after warning calls of former group members than those of neighbors or unknown individuals. Thus, breeders respond appropriately only to warning calls of previous cooperation partners. This mechanism facilitates the evolution and maintenance of communication vulnerable to deceptive signaling. This conclusion also applies to human language because of its cooperative nature and thus, its vulnerability to deception.

FULL REPORT: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/22/eaba2862
 
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