vocalization

Leiden University’s Carel ten Cate tracked down 34-year-old duck recordings—and the man who made them—to verify that musk ducks are capable of vocal learning, an ability that hadn’t been thought to exist in waterfowl.

A group of self-styled screamologists are sifting through the noisiness of nonverbal human vocalizations and finding previously undemonstrated forms of communication.

Chirp dialects appear to be enforced by the colony’s queen, but scientists aren’t sure how. 

See University of California, Los Angeles, animal behavior researcher Dan Blumstein explain common characteristics of vocalizations that express fearful emotions.

Hear seals imitating human sounds and melodies.

Changes in the auditory environment as a result of herbivory could influence how animals communicate, and may have implications for sound-based monitoring of species.

Young zebra finches that receive feedback after they sing from a video of a fluffed-up female eventually develop more accurate tunes.

Biologists say a sound suspected to have caused headaches, nausea, and possible brain damage among diplomats is actually of insects chirping.

Evolutionary changes in both the vocal tract and the brain were necessary for humans’ remarkable gift of gab.

People have a unique anatomy that supports our ability to produce complex language.

Nessus sphinx hawkmoth larvae make alarm calls using mechanics similar to rocket engines. 

New research shows humans aren’t that different from our winged cousins.

Researchers document the loudest sound ever recorded in fish.

At 100 sites around North America, field recorders are set to record natures’ response to the blotting out of the sun on Monday.

Diverse species are said to sing, but music is in the ear of the beholder.

Birdsong bears a striking resemblance to human music, but it’s not yet clear that birds interpret it that way.

Some bat vocalizations resemble bird songs, though at higher frequencies, and as researchers unveil the behaviors’ neural underpinnings, the similarities may run even deeper.

Mice and rats produce ultrasonic signals to attract mates.

Structured whale songs are shared by group members and evolve over time, but the calls’ functions are still unclear.