At 08:24 PM 5/7/2003, Barb Beck wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Dr Christopher Sturdy is a Prof at the University of Alberta is interested
>in doing some work in Chickadee communication. He is particularly
>interested in North American chickadees, as they are available to test in
>our operant chambers, but thinks that some more comparative perception wit=
h
>European tit vocalizations would be great, too. Following his note to me h=
e
>has an abstract of what he is doing. Sounds interesting. If anybody is
>willing to help contact him directly. He is setting up an FTP site so tha=
t
>anybody who is willing to send him stuff can just dump it there.
This is really interesting and cutting-edge research. The animals that Dr.=
Sturdy refers to (Bats, humans, whales, Oscine passerines) also include the=
parrots and hummingbirds. These clads all have a unique arrangement and
number of receptors in the brains called glutamate receptors, which are
apparently used in reinforcing vocal learning.
I've been toying with hummingbird vocalizations and find some very
interesting structure - syntax, if you will, in their agonistic chatter.
The more I explore, the more I find that there is at least the appearance
and possibility of complex, abstract communication/information in many
birds' "chatter". The songs and simple calls we are all familiar with are
"blunt force" communication - simple, direct, to the point. The real
intimate stuff is in the chatter and subsong, I find.
Doug
Doug Von Gausig
Clarkdale, Arizona, USA
Moderator
Nature Recordists e-mail group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists
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