The biggest birds bring the bass: Size shapes the birdsong of honeyeaters

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-04-24 09:01

Australia; VIC

Image by Penny from Pixabay

Honeyeaters' songs are mostly shaped by how big the birds are that are singing, rather than environmental or habitat influences, according to Australian research, which found that smaller-sized honeyeaters produce higher frequency songs, while the bigger birds can bring the bass. The study found that habitat type and environmental variables were found to still influence some aspects of song, but that influence is more likely to be through the environmental effects on body size, rather than direct effects. Honeyeater body size is expected to reduce with future climate change, which the authors say could also bring changes to their songs.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

Body size shapes song in honeyeaters

Birdsongs are among the most distinctive animal signals. Their evolution is thought to be shaped simultaneously by habitat structure and morphology. This study uses a diverse Australasian bird clade, honeyeaters, to examine influences of habitat and morphology on song evolution. Honeyeater song was found to be primarily shaped by body size. Although habitat type and environmental variables were found to influence some aspects of song, that influence is more likely indirect, via effects of environmental variation on body size. These results suggest that body size, which is expected to reduce with future climate change, has potential to substantially influence birdsong.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research The Royal Society, Web page Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends).

Journal/
conference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Monash University

Funder: The authors received no funding for this study.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.