Songbird BioCognition: An integrative approach to understanding songbird communication

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The main objective of my research program is to understand songbird vocal communication. I have chosen songbirds as a model system for many reasons. Importantly, songbirds learn their vocalizations from a model in a manner analogous to human speech learning. I also study songbirds and their vocal communication because, as with humans, vocal communication in songbirds is critical to their survival. Vocal communication plays a key role in mating, territory establishment and defence, as well as in anti-predator behaviour. My overall research question is: "How do songbirds communicate using their songs and calls?" My research team and I use many different research techniques that are all aimed at answering this one overarching research question, approaching the question in different ways. For instance, we measure and characterize the vocalizations that songbirds produce including: their songs, used to attract mates; and their calls, used for a variety of purposes, including raising alarm when a predator is detected. Once the particular vocalization of interest has been described in detail, we then determine what features of that particular vocalization sets it apart from other, similar vocalizations. To do this, we use statistical techniques designed to identify the features that are important in each vocalization. These analyses inform the design of behavioural experiments with birds in the field or in the laboratory. This second, experimental stage is a critical follow up to the initial descriptive step in order to understand what the birds themselves deem important when they perceive a particular vocalization. We also investigate which brain areas are used when birds listen to their vocalizations. To complete this aspect of our work, we expose birds to various vocalizations and then assess the patterns of activity in their brains using sophisticated anatomical techniques that are able to tell us what cells are active, where in the brain these cells are located, and for which signals they are most responsive. Finally, we examine the role that early experience plays in vocal perception; that is, what impact the environment plays in birds’ perception in adulthood. We approach this question by raising young songbirds in different conditions (e.g., with another species) and test their perception compared to that of birds captured from the wild. We also conduct perceptual studies, similar to our songbird perceptual studies, in human participants. This allows us to compare how humans treat signals in a manner that is directly comparable to songbirds, thus exposing similarities and differences between birds and humans. Taken together, we seek to gain a broad understanding of how it is that songbirds communicate, and in so doing, shed light on common mechanisms in our own, human, communication system.