The complex and melodic nature of many birds' songs has raised interest in potential
parallels between avian vocal sequences and human speech. The similarities between …

Both language and music are universal and characteristic for humans. The evolution of the
cognitive abilities underlying language and music are widely debated. A core question is …

Recent advances in technology allow researchers to automate the measurement of animal
behaviour. These methods have multiple advantages over direct observations and manual …

Highlights•Female zebra finches can recognize temporal regularity across a wide range of
rates.•Regularity detection extends to tempi far outside conspecific male song …

Birdsong is typically seen as a long-range signal functioning in mate attraction and territory
defense. Among birds, the zebra finch is the prime model organism in bioacoustics, yet …

Many species are able to vocally recognize individual conspecifics and this capacity seems
widespread in oscine songbirds. The exact acoustic features used for such recognition are …

Zebra finches rely mainly on syllable phonology rather than on syllable sequence when they
discriminate between two songs. However, they can also learn to discriminate two strings …

Due to their outstanding ability of vocal imitation, parrots are often kept as pets. Research
has shown that they do not just repeat human words. They can use words purposefully to …

There is a rich history of behavioral and neurobiological research focused on the 'syntax'of
birdsong as a model for human language and complex auditory perception. Zebra finches …

The ability to detect and respond to indicators of risk is vital for any animal and, for many
species, humans represent a key threat. We investigated whether wild jackdaws, Corvus …