Canadian Sparrows Ditch Their Old Song For Catchier Tune

[Sillyhuron]

Oh, for "sweet, sweet can-a-da, can-a-da, can-a-da"!

Study finds British Columbia birds’ dropped-end note of call has spread across country

Patrick Barkham
Thu 2 Jul 2020 16.00 BST
Last modified on Thu 2 Jul 2020 17.55 BST

If you consider Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep to be the ultimate catchy tune, think again: the white-throated sparrows of British Columbia have devised a new song that has gone viral across Canada.

For years, the small songbird’s traditional descending whistle featured a three-note ending. But researchers have tracked how a unique two-note-ending version of the male bird’s call has rapidly spread 3,000km (1,864 miles) eastwards from western Canada to central Ontario during this century.

Many bird species are known to change their songs over time but these “cultural” evolutions usually stay within local populations, becoming a regional “dialect” rather than the new normal for a whole species. Scientists have not previously observed how a new song dialect quickly moves across a continent.

Full Article:
www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/02/why-canadian-white-throated-sparrows-have-changed-their-tune&usg=AOvVaw01FcpeN10pe9LVUNabHyJH

 

[escargot]

Birds do this. They're great.

When Trimphones were popular lots of wild birds imitated their ringtone. One used to sing it near a flat where I lived and I used to wish we had a phone so I could say 'Oh no, it wasn't the phone, it was the bird again!'

They pick up anything repetitive, even dustbin lorry reversing tones, and they quickly learn helpful behaviours like milk bottle top pecking.

 

[uair01]

Another one:
https://gizmodo.com/a-viral-new-bird-song-in-canada-is-causing-sparrows-t-1844245103

 

[marhawkman]

I've seen crows meow. Birds are weird like that.