Bird communication: chirping with syntax

Japanese great tits communicate according to syntactic rules. Image: University of Zurich

Language is one of the defining characteristics of human beings: It enables us to generate unlimited meanings from a finite number of phonetic elements. Using syntactic rules, humans are able to combine words to form phrases and sentences, and thus ascribe meaning to various things and activities.

Research on communication systems suggests that non-human primates and birds, too, have evolved the ability to assign meaning to arbitrary vocal elements. But until now, the evolution of syntax has been considered unique to human language.

Warning signal plus mating call means “flock together”

Evolutionary biologists at The Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Japan, the Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of Zurich are now challenging this view. For the first time, these researchers have demonstrated that Japanese great tits (Parus minor) have developed syntactic rules. These small birds are known for their large vocal repertoire, and the team discovered that they use a variety of calls and combinations of calls to interact with one another in specific situations.

The combination of sounds such as the “ABC calls”, for instance, means “watch out!”. The great tits use them when a sparrowhawk or another predator is nearby – a potentially dangerous situation. By contrast, “D calls” mean “come over here,” a call the birds use after discovering a new source of food or when wanting their partner to come to the nest.

Tits frequently combine these two calls into ABC-D calls when, for instance, the birds encounter predators and join forces to deter them. When hearing a recording of these calls played in the natural order of ABC-D, the birds are alarmed and flock together. When, however, the call ordering is artificially reversed to D-ABC, the birds do not respond.

Generating meaning by combining limited vocabulary

The researchers have therefore drawn the conclusion that syntax is not unique to human language: It has also evolved independently in birds. “The results lead to a better understanding of the underlying factors in the evolution of syntax. Because the tits combine different calls, they are able to create new meaning with their limited vocabulary. That allows them to trigger different behavioral reactions and coordinate complex social interactions,” says Dr. Michael Griesser, at the Institute of Anthropology at the University of Zurich. He believes these factors may well have contributed to the development of language in humans.

Literature:
Toshitaka N. Suzuki, David Wheatcroft, Michael Griesser. Experimental evidence for compositional syntax in bird calls. Nature Communications. March 8, 2016. doi: 10.1038/ncomms10986

http://www.mediadesk.uzh.ch/articles/2016/kohlmeisen-zwitschern-nach-sprachaehnl…

Media Contact

Kurt Bodenmüller Universität Zürich

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors