Songbirds sing so loud at dawn because they’re warming up, study finds

A team from Duke University tested this hypothesis by measuring the vocal performance of 11 marsh sparrows, examining vocal deviation in more than 1,500 songs recorded by the birds.

It turns out that vocal performance “has serious consequences for marsh sparrows,” said Jason Dinh, PhD in biology. student at Duke and lead author of the study.

“Older and taller men tend to sing better performing songs,” he wrote in an email to CNN. Additionally, high performance songs are more appealing to women and more intimidating to rival men. By warming up and improving their vocal performance, birds might better attract mates or repel rivals later in the morning. . “

So what does an uplifting songbird song sound like?

Dinh wrote that for swamp sparrows, songs were physically difficult if they were trilled quickly and hit a wide range of pitches. These factors depend on how quickly a bird can move its beak and the width of its opening, he added.

But although researchers have learned that songbirds’ intense song at dawn is due to them warming up, they are still not sure exactly why this improves their song.

Warming up is helpful for people both when singing and exercising because it increases muscle temperature, Dinh explained. Warming up before singing can also help hydrate our vocal cords.

But despite everything, Dinh said it was entirely possible that the case was different in birds.

“It’s hard to make direct comparisons with warming up birds because their sound-producing mechanisms are so different from ours,” he writes. “However, the general benefit of literally warming muscles and sound-producing tissues may also apply to birds.”