We’ve all heard the gorgeous chorus of birds singing, whether that be a pet songbird or Magpies sitting in the tree outside your window. But what really is birdsong and how is it different to the calls that all birds can make? Why do some birds sing and others don’t?
Cosmos journalist Imma Perfetto chatted to Dr Dominique Potvin, a behavioural ecologist, evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, and senior lecturer in Animal Ecology at the University of the Sunshine Coast, to find out.
Part of Potvin’s research focuses on how bird vocalisations can be the impacted by anthropogenic activities like urbanisation, noise, and land use. She talks to why it’s so important for scientists to understand how humans are changing bird behaviour, and what it’s like being an ornithologist here in Australia.
Listen to the gorgeous bird songs and calls featured in this video, and many more, here.