16th June 2008

Orphaned Birds Taught To Sing

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Baby birds in the care of RSPCA wildlife centres are for the first time being played recordings of the dawn chorus to help them to learn to sing.

A recent scientific study funded by the RSPCA concluded that birds being reared in captivity could benefit from being played song from birds of their own species before they are released back into the wild.

As a result, CDs of birdsong - which contain all the calls of birds cared for - are this year being played twice a day to the hundreds of fledglings being cared for in RSPCA wildlife centres.

Tim Thomas, an RSPCA wildlife officer, said, "The ability to sing is extremely important to the males of most bird species because it is vital for them to form and then defend their own territory and find a mate. Female birds in many species choose a partner based on the way they sing.

"Birds learn to sing from their parents so being reared in captivity can mean that they don't know how to sing properly.

"The study found that the majority of birds species benefit from being played birdsong - they listen to it and it helps them become good singers which will in turn help them to survive when they are released."

The report looked at the findings of 158 previous studies to reach general conclusions about songbirds including:

Song is important to many bird species and may affect their success in acquiring a territory, which in turn affects their chances of survival and breeding.

Song is a learned behaviour. To a certain extent the ability to sing is hardwired into the birds' brains but to master the art they need to learn by listening to other birds of the same species.

Females don't sing as commonly as males but are attracted to males because of their song.

Females often prefer males that sing more often, or have longer or more complex songs.

Birds reared in isolation can develop abnormal songs. This is not liked by females.

Most, but not all, bird species can learn by listening to a recording.

The report concludes that while being played a recording is not as effective as being taught by their parents, it doesn't do the fledglings any harm.

The RSPCA's wildlife centres carry out research into the success of their rehabilitation work. For example blackbirds will be again radiotracked later this year to check whether the birdsong CDs are helping the birds' rehabilitation in the wild.

Another way in which CDs can help birds:

The birds in the RSPCA's four wildlife centres are not the only ones being given CDs in an attempt to help their welfare.

The RSPCA's standards for meat chickens also require that birds are given 'environmental enrichment' to help encourage them to express natural behaviour.

In many Freedom Food farms, which implement the RSPCA's standards, one of the ways they provide environmental enrichment is by suspending CDs on string from the ceiling. This gives the birds an interesting object to interact with and peck. Some chickens are also given footballs to play with.

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