Adult male zebra finches (left) learn their songs and use them during courtship interactions with females (right). Photo credit: Raina Fan.

If you listen to songbirds, you will recognize repeated melodies or phrases. Each phrase is made up of distinct sounds, strung together. A study from researchers at McGill University has found that the song phrases of many songbird species follow patterns that are similar to those used in human speech. At least in some respects.

Adult male zebra finches (left) learn their songs and use them during courtship interactions with females (right). Photo credit: Raina Fan.

If you listen to songbirds, you will recognize repeated melodies or phrases. Each phrase is made up of distinct sounds, strung together. A study from researchers at McGill University has found that the song phrases of many songbird species follow patterns that are similar to those used in human speech. At least in some respects.

Do physical elements play a role in songbird (and human) vocal patterns?

“Although we see Menzerath’s Law in all the songbird species we looked at, and others have seen it among primates and penguins, we aren’t sure this necessarily reflects enhanced communication efficiency in non-human animals,” said Jon Sakata, a professor in McGill’s Biology Department and the senior author on the paper that was recently published in Current Biology. “It is possible that these patterns of communication that we saw in songbirds are caused by physical predispositions and constraints.”

Interestingly, Sakata also notes that the brain mechanisms regulating breathing and vocal muscles seem to be organized in similar ways in birds and humans.