• Question: Why and how birds sing?

    Asked by Martina to Rupert on 7 Mar 2017. This question was also asked by erictillo, Enrique2004, adpdp2004, Betty boo.
    • Photo: Rupert Marshall

      Rupert Marshall answered on 7 Mar 2017:

      Good question! We know some of the answer but are still filling in some of the details. Only songbirds sing (they are called the oscines). Lots of other birds have simple calls. Songbirds sing for one or two reasons: to defend a territory (so they have somewhere to feed, live and bring up their chicks), and to attract a mate. It is usually just the males that sing but in a few species females sing. In a couple of species the male and female duet – this is often when they have a great place to live and it takes two to defend it against intruders

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