Birdsong evolves over time, new study says
Have you ever heard your parents reminisce about songs you’ve never heard? Or traveled abroad and found you don’t recognize what’s on the radio? If so, you might be able to relate to how songbirds experience music, according to a new study. On March 10, 2025, scientists from the University of Oxford said they have new evidence that birdsong is constantly evolving, shaped by migration and aging within bird communities.
The researchers used an artificial intelligence model to sort through over 20,000 hours of recordings of great tits (parus major) in Oxfordshire, U.K. AI was able to identify how some songs were shared across many populations, some remained hometown hits and others were kept alive only by the memories of the oldest birds.
The scientists published their peer-reviewed findings on March 7, 2025, in the journal Current Biology.
Capturing birdsong
Scientists have long theorized that the musical repertoire of songbirds is shaped by the ways their communities change over time. But until now, they had little empirical evidence to confirm this theory.
That’s why researchers spent three years recording the songs of great tits in Wytham Woods, Oxford, U.K. They chose the location because it’s a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, with studies of the great tit population going back 77 years. So there was already a huge amount of data about the movements and ages of these birds to build upon.
To supplement this data, the researchers set up field microphones to record the dawn songs of male great tit birds. They recorded some 109,000 different songs over the three years. Then they were left with the painstaking task of attributing them to individual birds. To achieve this, they used a deep metric learning model, a form of artificial intelligence designed to measure similarities between data points. The AI model recognized birds based on their songs and established just how different the individual songs are.
Having mapped the 21,000 hours of audio to 242 individual birds, the scientists were able to measure how the movements of each bird affected the songs it – and those around it – knew. And although Wytham Woods spans only 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), the data revealed some fascinating cultural differences across its great tit communities.
Demographic change shapes birdsong
One of the key factors they found influencing song evolution was age. The study established that birds of a similar age tend to sing similar songs. Meanwhile, communities with widely ranging ages have more varied repertoires.
Touchingly, the oldest birds kept singing songs long after they’ve fallen out of favor with younger birds. So the older birds acted as archives for otherwise forgotten tunes. And when such a bird dies, the songs it has preserved are lost. This kind of population turnover rapidly speeds up a neighborhood’s musical evolution. The younger generation learns new songs at a much faster rate than their predecessors.
On the other hand, migration between communities slows down the rate of song change. Immigrant great tits don’t introduce new songs, but rather adapt to the popular songs of their new community. With more movement comes increased homogenization, as wayfaring birds rely on the popular classics.
Conversely, communities of birds that don’t stray too far from home tend to have unique musical tastes. These isolated communities generally sing local hits that haven’t made it to neighboring populations.
The study seems to have confirmed what scientists have long believed: demographic change drives birdsong evolution. Lead author Nilo Merino Recalde of the University of Oxford summarized:
Just as human communities develop distinct dialects and musical traditions, some birds also have local song cultures that evolve over time. Our study shows exactly how population dynamics – the comings and goings of individual birds – affect this cultural learning process, influencing both song diversity and the pace of change.
A useful framework
These findings could have useful applications in conservation. Armed with this new understanding of how birdsong changes with demographic change, researchers might be able to do the inverse: use birdsong changes to monitor the mixing, fragmentation and rate of turnover in bird communities.
The study authors have made their entire dataset publicly available so other scientists can continue the research.
Bottom line: A new study of songbirds has found evidence for a dynamic musical culture, with birdsong evolving over time due to aging and migration.
Source: The demographic drivers of cultural evolution in bird song
Read more: Media We Love: The Merlin Bird ID app
The post A change of tune: Birdsong evolves, says AI-powered study first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/E2QUuAa
Birdsong evolves over time, new study says
Have you ever heard your parents reminisce about songs you’ve never heard? Or traveled abroad and found you don’t recognize what’s on the radio? If so, you might be able to relate to how songbirds experience music, according to a new study. On March 10, 2025, scientists from the University of Oxford said they have new evidence that birdsong is constantly evolving, shaped by migration and aging within bird communities.
The researchers used an artificial intelligence model to sort through over 20,000 hours of recordings of great tits (parus major) in Oxfordshire, U.K. AI was able to identify how some songs were shared across many populations, some remained hometown hits and others were kept alive only by the memories of the oldest birds.
The scientists published their peer-reviewed findings on March 7, 2025, in the journal Current Biology.
Capturing birdsong
Scientists have long theorized that the musical repertoire of songbirds is shaped by the ways their communities change over time. But until now, they had little empirical evidence to confirm this theory.
That’s why researchers spent three years recording the songs of great tits in Wytham Woods, Oxford, U.K. They chose the location because it’s a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, with studies of the great tit population going back 77 years. So there was already a huge amount of data about the movements and ages of these birds to build upon.
To supplement this data, the researchers set up field microphones to record the dawn songs of male great tit birds. They recorded some 109,000 different songs over the three years. Then they were left with the painstaking task of attributing them to individual birds. To achieve this, they used a deep metric learning model, a form of artificial intelligence designed to measure similarities between data points. The AI model recognized birds based on their songs and established just how different the individual songs are.
Having mapped the 21,000 hours of audio to 242 individual birds, the scientists were able to measure how the movements of each bird affected the songs it – and those around it – knew. And although Wytham Woods spans only 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), the data revealed some fascinating cultural differences across its great tit communities.
Demographic change shapes birdsong
One of the key factors they found influencing song evolution was age. The study established that birds of a similar age tend to sing similar songs. Meanwhile, communities with widely ranging ages have more varied repertoires.
Touchingly, the oldest birds kept singing songs long after they’ve fallen out of favor with younger birds. So the older birds acted as archives for otherwise forgotten tunes. And when such a bird dies, the songs it has preserved are lost. This kind of population turnover rapidly speeds up a neighborhood’s musical evolution. The younger generation learns new songs at a much faster rate than their predecessors.
On the other hand, migration between communities slows down the rate of song change. Immigrant great tits don’t introduce new songs, but rather adapt to the popular songs of their new community. With more movement comes increased homogenization, as wayfaring birds rely on the popular classics.
Conversely, communities of birds that don’t stray too far from home tend to have unique musical tastes. These isolated communities generally sing local hits that haven’t made it to neighboring populations.
The study seems to have confirmed what scientists have long believed: demographic change drives birdsong evolution. Lead author Nilo Merino Recalde of the University of Oxford summarized:
Just as human communities develop distinct dialects and musical traditions, some birds also have local song cultures that evolve over time. Our study shows exactly how population dynamics – the comings and goings of individual birds – affect this cultural learning process, influencing both song diversity and the pace of change.
A useful framework
These findings could have useful applications in conservation. Armed with this new understanding of how birdsong changes with demographic change, researchers might be able to do the inverse: use birdsong changes to monitor the mixing, fragmentation and rate of turnover in bird communities.
The study authors have made their entire dataset publicly available so other scientists can continue the research.
Bottom line: A new study of songbirds has found evidence for a dynamic musical culture, with birdsong evolving over time due to aging and migration.
Source: The demographic drivers of cultural evolution in bird song
Read more: Media We Love: The Merlin Bird ID app
The post A change of tune: Birdsong evolves, says AI-powered study first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/E2QUuAa
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