song birds

[scots misty]

Is it true only male birds sing? Someone told me so but i'm not convinced.

[Ethel]

No

[bimbo123456]

You might like to read this article.....Males do the singing and females do the listening. This has been the established, even cherished view of courtship in birds, but now some ornithologists are changing tune.

L�szl� Garamszegi of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and colleagues studied the literature on 233 European songbird species. Of the 109 for which information on females was available, they found evidence for singing in 101 species. In only eight species could the team conclude that females did not sing.

Females that sing have been overlooked, the team say, because either their songs are quiet, they are mistaken for males from their similar plumage or they live in less well-studied areas such as the tropics (Behavioral Ecology, DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arl047). Garamszegi blames Charles Darwin for the oversight. "He emphasised the importance of male sexual display, and this is what everyone has been looking at."

The findings go beyond modern species. After carefully tracing back an evolutionary family tree for their songbirds, Garamszegi's team discovered that, in at least two bird families, singing evolved in females first. They suggest these ancient females may have been using their songs to deter other females from their territories, to coordinate breeding activities with males, or possibly to attract mates.

"It leaves us with a perplexing question," says Garamszegi. "What evolutionary forces drove some females to give up singing?"

From issue 2589 of New Scientist magazine, 07 February 2007, page 17

[scots misty]

Thanks bimbo, very interesting. much appreciated

[Fay Mousse]

Female cardinals are beautiful singers - much better than the male.
You can hear her here:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/Bir dGuide/Northern_Cardinal.html#sound

[wildwood]

yeah, what bimbo said.

It all depends on how you define singing. A rooster crows for the same purpose as a thrush doing his early am warble; as a warning to other males that this is his patch so stay away.
The hen chook also 'sings' by cackling after laying an egg to let Mr Randy know that she is ready for fertilisation of the next egg. If you're into chooks you'll know that this is quite a distinct cackle, different from the chook's warning cackle when a bird of prey flies over or the neighbour's cat pays them a visit.

[Cetti]

In the autumn both Mr and Mrs Robin sing their sad warbling songs, as they separate after rearing the kids and need to defend their territories.

[Ethel]

My cockatiel hen used to sing a lot. Not much of a talker though