International Journal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy

Learning (Singing): As shown in adult canaries, a learning behavior model, they modify their songs every year and continue to learn new songs in adulthood. Song syllables are delivered in a very stereotyped manner during the breeding season, and become less frequent and stereotypy after the breeding season ends. In the observations of song change results, the most dramatic change that occurs in the song circuits of adult canaries is neurogenesis and neuronal replacement in the HVC of brain region, an important nucleus in the brain that controls this learning behavior of canaries. 

Adult neurogenesis is thought to provide neural plasticity used in forming and storing new memories. New neurons continue to be added to the HVC of adult canaries, where they replace older neurons that have died . 

Therefore, the neurogenesis of adult canaries is responsible for the seasonal plasticity of learning behavior. The activating mechanisms of neuronal replacement in songbirds may contribute to the understanding of the repair of human brain damages and neuronal degeneration diseases.

Neural Stem Cells and their Niches in NeuroregenerationJong-Hang Chen1, Mei-Shu Chen1, Su-Liang Chen1 and Ing-Ming Chiu

Inbred Songbirds Cannot Carry A Tune

Female songbirds choose mates based on their songs, and this study provides some insights into what aspects of song they use to identify a “quality” male

A domestic canary (Serinus canaria forma domestica). (Credit: Youtube.)

When a female chooses a mate, she is looking for a male who possesses a set of characters that makes him attractive. In songbirds, one of the primary characters that females use to choose a mate is the quality of his song. But many songbirds learn their songs from older males, which points to the familiar and longstanding “nature versus nurture” debate: does quality result from growing up in a good environment or it is based solely upon having good genes? And hand-in-hand with that argument comes another question: what aspect of a male’s song is important to a female songbird?

Just what do females want?

Like a male peacock’s huge, colorful tail (or like an expensive red sportscar), ornaments that reflect a male’s quality are necessarily costly to the male in ways that test his survival (or credit rating), thereby creating an honest signal that reflects his overall quality as a mate (ref). Males who overcome this “handicap” long enough to breed are reliably of higher quality than are males who lack these expensive ornaments — or who do not survive long enough to breed.

But when it comes to mate choice, what, exactly, is “quality”?

“‘Quality’ is determined by genetic and environmental factors”, write the authors in their paper, which was published today in theProceedings of the Royal Society B.

But how genetics and environment influence each other are poorly known.

“[S]urprisingly there is very limited evidence if, and how, genetic aspects of male quality are reflected in song”, write the authors.

more in FORBES

Peerless Orchestra The birds and the brook -1901

Birds and the Brook - Margaret McKee

Margaret McKee (1898 - 1960), known as "The Queen of Whistlers" was probably the most famous of professional whistlers during the 1920s. She was a pupil of Agnes Woodward at the California School of Artistic Whistling and performed as a teenager and young adult on the vaudeville circuit giving concerts throughout the United States and in Europe. She was a specialist in bird imitations and performed as a whistling soloist with orchestral accompaniment. She recorded on several record labels including Victor and Brunswick and once recorded with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. On the Grey Gull label, she used the pseudonym "Jane Emmett". In 1927 she appeared in a Vitaphone movie short, "Margaret McKee: Famous Whistler" in which she performed four selections.

The music "The Birds and the Brook" was published in 1893. Early recordings of this were done by the Metropolitan Orchestra (1902) and Arthur Pryor Orchestra (1904) for the Victor record label.