FAQs

Do birds of the same species sound the same regardless of their geographic location?

No! Birds, more specifically songbirds, have been found to have dialects (differences in song) that depend on geographic location, just like humans! It turns out that the dialects in speech and song are a result of vocal learning. However, suboscine vocalizations, in other words, sounds from non-songbirds (not songs) do not change very much over geographic space. These sounds are not learned, they are instinctual. You can hear the difference in song between a White-crowned Sparrow from California and from Maryland.

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