Re: Rescued/Released Baby Birds Learn Songs?
Ellen Paul (epaul@dclink.com)
Sun, 31 May 1998 08:08:31 -0700
Dear Leslie,
It depends on the species and the age of the birds while you are holding
them. Every species seems to have what is called a critical period
during which the young birds learn the songs of the adults. Well, the
basic songs, anyway. This is often at 12-14 days of age. If isolated
during that critical period, they won't develop song that is normal for
that species. At later ages, they can be isolated and still develop
normal song.
Birds that have been tutored by tape during the critical stage don't
seem to learn as well as birds that have been taught by live tutors.
I don't want to start a ruckus on rehabbing - it has both good and bad
points - but from a purely biological point of view, no one seems to
have done much research on the success of released rehab birds (except
in the cases of big rescues, such as in Alaska, where the released birds
apparently survived, but aren't reproducing). It's just a lot of time
and money to spend to save an individual when you really have no idea if
it is doing any good for the species. And actually, from a biological
point of view, except for species with very small population sizes, an
individual doesn't make a whole lot of difference.
I say this only because of your concern about the time and money going
to save these birds. I was very interested in rehabbing at one point,
then realized that my time and money could be going to species survival,
rather than survival of individuals. I don't mean to criticize those
who feel otherwise, but simply wanted to address your concern in the
context of the "bigger picture."
If you would like, I can provide a list of references on song learning.
Ellen Paul
Chevy Chase, MD
epaul@dclink.com
mdosprey@ARI.Net wrote:
>
> While feeding baby birds @ Tri-State Bird Rescue this week, it occurred
> to me that these birds, when released, might not have the ability to
> recognize their own species in the wild. If they lack a parental role
> model for song, will they ever be able to learn the song particular to
> their species? Can these released birds ever become part of a breeding
> population? It disturbs me to think of so much time and money being
> expended if this is the case. My husband, listening to my thoughts,
> summed up the situation as follows, " Well, they can always be hawk
> food, and become part of the food chain "!!
> Does anyone know of research that has been done on whether released song
> birds, raised from incubator stage, can successfully learn songs &
> breed? Any thoughts/ opinions on this subject? Marcia & I discussed
> the matter while out birding today, we`re both rather curious. Would
> appreciate any input. Thanks to those who answered to the Orioles &
> Oranges.
> Gone to the Birds, Leslie Fisher
--
Ellen Paul Chevy Chase, Maryland Mailto:epaul@dclink.com