Countless YouTube videos feature pet birds singing and talking to their owners. Although it may seem like simple mimicry, ...

Some birds—including blue jays—are strong vocal learners that can mimic other birds and make lots of different sounds. Jocelyn Anderson via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 3.0 Birds can make an array of ...

If you are among the many who struggle to learn bird songs, start with those species that actually identify themselves; they say their own names. For this we can thank early ornithologists who named ...

Over a decade ago, behavioral ecologist Diane Colombelli-Négrel was wiring superb fairy wrens’ nests to record the birds’ sounds when she noticed something odd. Mother fairy wrens sang while ...

Not all pet birds have the physical or cognitive ability to learn songs, and understanding the difference can help owners set realistic expectations. For example, vocal learning species—including ...

Birds don't just sing for beauty, their voices carry messages, warnings, and even regional dialects that reveal a hidden world of communication. Bird sounds offer insight into how intelligent and ...

Alex the grey parrot, who famously asked “what color?” when looking in the mirror, had astonishing abilities to mimic human speech. Interest in the ability of animals to learn sounds dates back ...

Last month, I wrote about the common names of birds, and the planned changes to some of those names. In the past, I’ve written about the folk names of birds. But there are also the scientific names of ...

Every pet bird has a personality. Some are quiet observers, while others are social, expressive, and always ready to interact. For many bird lovers, the dream is to hear their feathered companion ...

A guided walk through North Yorkshire woodland throws up some thrilling surprises by honing in on sound over sight ...