Lost song spells trouble for endangered songbird

Image credit: Murray Chambers - The critically endangered regent honeyeater is losing its "song culture" due to the bird's rapidly declining population, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU). Just like humans learning to speak, many birds learn to sing by associating with older birds of the same species. They risk losing this skill if adults become too rare. And if they don't learn to sing a sexy enough song, their chances of mating are reduced. "If endangered birds are unable to learn how to sing correctly, it seriously impacts their ability to communicate," lead author Dr Ross Crates said. "It could also be exacerbating the honeyeater's population decline, because we know a sexy song increases the odds of reproduction in songbirds. Females will avoid males that sing unusual songs." The study found that in places where there were still reasonable numbers of regent honeyeaters, males sang rich and complex songs.