Thanks Devorah,
On a similar note is this article about how the size of birds brains is helping scientists learn the origins of speech. http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,897048,00.html
Brett A. Wolfe gismybabe at yahoo.com Seattle, WA
Bird brains offer clues to origins of speech

Why songbirds find syntax sexy

Tim Radford
Monday February 17, 2003
The Guardian

The brains of songbirds could throw new light on humanity's outstanding evolutionary card - the ability to talk, writes Tim Radford.
Hummingbirds, songbirds and certain parrots have something in common: the ability to go on learning new sounds and to use syntax to arrange them in ever more complex ways.
Erich Jarvis, a neurobiologist at Duke University, North Carolina, told the AAAS that the three groups of birds also shared the same brain pattern, with distinctive development of receptors at seven different places in their brains. The shared brain structure suggested the machinery for the evolution of vocal learning.
And if the study of humans managed to show the same distinctive pattern - involving receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate - then a much closer look at canaries and parrots might present clues to the loss of language in victims of stroke and head injury.
"I would not be surprised if these same ancient receptors could someday help us identify the entire system of brain regions for vocal learning and language in humans in a way that has not been done before," Dr Jarvis said.
The ability would have evolved naturally in songbirds because it must have conferred an advantage - and a risk.
"The main things that they do are defend territories and attract mates. The more complex the syntax, the sexier the song," he said.
"The more complex you sound, then the more not only will sexy females recognise you but also predators. So when you raise these birds in pet shops, they actually develop more complex syntax than birds in the wild."



"Devorah A. N. Bennu" <nyneve at amnh.org> wrote:
hello all,

another fun article about birds and their songs ...

regards,

Devorah A. N. Bennu, PhD
email:nyneve at amnh.org or nyneve at myUW.net
work page http://research.amnh.org/ornithology/personnel/bennu.htm
personal pages http://research.amnh.org/users/nyneve/

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2003/denver_2003/2767671.stm

Birds' 'sexy songs'

By Richard Black
BBC science correspondent

Scientists are homing in on some of the key brain circuitry that
enables certain birds to produce beautifully complex songs.

They have identified a key set of genes in the animals which seems
essential for them to construct and modify their songs in much the
same way as humans are able to mix up their words to make
different sentences.

The discovery is being discussed here at the annual meeting of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The work is likely to help researchers better understand how humans
speak.

'Smoking gun'

The songs of some birds - such as canaries, parrots and hummingbirds
- are incredibly complex, and to some extent they are like human
speech.

The order of sounds is important, like the syntax and grammar of
human languages; and some bird species can change their songs,
learning new sounds from the world around them.

Something then must be special in the brains of these birds. Erich
Jarvis from Duke University thinks he has now finally discovered
what it is.

"It's exciting for me because scientists have been looking for
anything related to syntax complexity for the past 30 years in these
birds. There have been some hints, but nothing that was really
strong - you know, a 'smoking gun' as they call it nowadays."

What Dr Jarvis has found is that in the parts of the brains of these
birds that are used for their songs, particular molecules are
present in large quantities.

Question of sex

They are called glutamate receptors, and are responsible for building
connections between nerve cells.

Dr Jarvis believes these large concentrations of glutamate receptors
have evolved separately in at least seven types of bird. But why?

"We find that those species which have this ability to imitate human
speech don't just imitate human speech - they imitate many things in
the environment.

"And we think this has something to do with sexual attraction; the
more stuff you can imitate, the more you can recombine in different
syntax, the more likely you're going to attract the opposite sex."

Which begs the question: did humans too evolve complex speech to
win sexual advantage?

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