International collaboration unlocks secrets of bird song

February 02, 2007

The song of the Australian magpie has enticed scientists from the United States and New Zealand to conduct collaborative research at the University of New England.

They have been working in UNE's Centre for Neuroscience and Animal Behaviour with Professor Gisela Kaplan, a leading authority on magpie behaviour in general and vocal behaviour in particular.

Together, they have conducted trials and gathered data that will help to explain how songbirds synchronise control of their breathing and of their vocal organ – the syrinx – when producing their elaborate songs.

Professor Roderick Suthers from the Medical School at Indiana University in the United States thinks Australian magpies are "marvellous birds". "I'm really impressed by their intelligence and vocal ability," he said.

Professor Suthers has pioneered techniques of recording air flow and air pressure within a bird's respiratory system during song without harming the bird or altering its vocal behaviour. He brought his equipment with him to UNE, where he and his collaborators have been using it to record physiological activity during magpie song.

Professor Martin Wild from the School of Medicine at the University of Auckland joined Professor Suthers and Professor Kaplan in the UNE laboratory, where recording has proceeded for the past fortnight. (Professor Wild and Professor Kaplan are pictured here.) "It's been a very valuable trial," Professor Kaplan said, "representing a significant step forward." Professor Suthers confirmed that they had "gained new insights into the coordination between respiration and sound production".

The two overseas scientists were so keen to work with Professor Kaplan and the Australian magpie – one of the world's most spectacular songsters – that they financed their own visit to UNE. Professor Wild stayed for one week and Professor Suthers for two.

Professor Kaplan, who has made many new and unexpected discoveries about the vocal behaviour of magpies, said this was the first time that the physiological basis of their song had been investigated.

She said she was particularly excited about the collaboration because it was bringing a Southern Hemisphere songbird into the "main debate" about bird song. "It may challenge some of the current generalisations about bird song that are largely based on studies of seasonal singing and the song of Northern Hemisphere birds," she said.

"It's wonderful to be part of a collaboration that can work towards a complete picture of magpie song – from brain to behaviour," she concluded.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Professor Wild and Professor Kaplan displayed here expands to include (from left) Professor Martin Wild, Professor Gisela Kaplan, Professor Lesley Rogers (Centre for Neuroscience and Animal Behaviour, UNE), Professor Peter Flood (UNE's Pro Vice-Chancellor - Research), and Professor Roderick Suthers.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at February 2, 2007 06:11 PM