Hummingbird. In all three groups of birds with vocal learning abilities -- songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds -- the brain structures for singing and learning to sing are embedded in areas controlling movement.
Posted on 03/12/2008 11:56:32 AM PDT by Dysart
Though they perch far apart on the avian family tree, birds with the ability to learn songs use similar brain structures to sing their tunes. Neurobiologists at Duke University Medical Center now have an explanation for this puzzling likeness.
In all three groups of birds with vocal learning abilities -- songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds -- the brain structures for singing and learning to sing are embedded in areas controlling movement, the researchers discovered. The team also found that areas in charge of movement share many functional similarities with the brain areas for singing. This suggests that the brain pathways used for vocal learning evolved out of the brain pathways used for motor control.
These ancient pathways, which power limb and body movements, constrained both the location and circuitry of structures for learning and imitating sounds, theorizes senior author Erich Jarvis, Ph.D., associate professor of neurobiology. The findings may also help solve the riddle of why humans talk with our hands and voice, but chimps can talk only with their hands.
"In its most specialized way, spoken language is the ability to control the learned movements of our larynx," Jarvis said. "It's possible that human language pathways have also evolved in ways similar to these birds. Perhaps the evolution of vocal learning brain areas for birds and humans exploited a universal motor system that predates the split from the common ancestor of birds and mammals."
National Institutes of Health Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. said, "The discovery that vocal learning brain pathways are embedded in the parts of the brain that control body movement offers unexpected insights on the origins of spoken language and could open up new approaches to understanding vocalization disorders in humans."
Jarvis and his colleagues examined bird species with vocal learning skills and some without: garden warblers, zebra finches, budgerigars (parrots), Anna's hummingbirds and ring doves. Their technique involved observing and manipulating bird behavior, then recording which genes were active in the birds' brains when the birds were moving and singing in certain ways.
"When we use this behavioral molecular mapping approach, we get gene expression patterns in the brain that light up like MRI images," Jarvis said. The study is the first to map the parts of the forebrain that control movement in birds. The forebrain is the largest part of the brain, and includes the pathways for thought, learning and perception.
While all birds vocalize, for most of them these sounds are genetically hardwired. Only songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds have the ability to learn songs. This type of vocal learning is similar to the way that humans learn to speak, Jarvis said.
"Based on the data, we think that the brain has a pre-existing substrate, namely a forebrain motor pathway, that led to the evolution of similar vocal learning pathways in three different bird families," Jarvis said.
The connection between movement and vocal learning also extends to humans, Jarvis suggests. Human brain structures for speech also lie adjacent to, and even within, areas that control movement. "We can make a plausible argument that in humans, our spoken language areas also evolved out of pre-existing motor pathways," he said. These pathways, he believes, date back to the common ancestor of reptiles, birds and mammals, creatures called stem amniotes that lived about 300 million years ago.
The results from birds are consistent with the hypothesis that spoken language was preceded by gestural language, or communication based on movements (one of several competing explanations for the origin of spoken language), Jarvis adds. Both humans and chimps gesture with the limbs while communicating, and young children gesture even before they begin talking. "Gesturing is something that goes along naturally with speech. The brain areas used for gesturing may have been co-opted and used for speech," Jarvis said.
Hummingbird. In all three groups of birds with vocal learning abilities -- songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds -- the brain structures for singing and learning to sing are embedded in areas controlling movement.
Never heard a hummingbird do anything but buzz like a bee.
Next they’ll be teaching birds to sign.
I’ve heard two males chirp like crazy, when confronting each other over territory near the feeder.
INTREP: Does not explain abstract thought.
What would the Global warming crowd know about avian evolution??
Birds definitely do have “body language.” I once saw the amazing courtship flight of the common Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
I’ve only heard the buzzing call during chase behavior too(around feeding stations); but courtship and territorial displays are usually when singing can be heard.
I though this was a story about the NEA
Ruby Throated HBs arrive in my backyard every August 13th. It never fails.
Not only are they beautiful to watch, but curious and intelligent. We've been fortunate to have them feed from our hands ... heart-stoppng! ;-)
Here's an insect catch ... and with the tongue extended. Great stuff.
Some kind of amazing picture. I’ve noticed they’re bold(not bothered by my presence near their feeders) but sure haven’t had them feed from my hand.
And yes, they stop by my place on their way back to C-AM/S-AM, staying about 5-6 weeks before moving along. Don’t know why they never stop by on the northward migration.
I'm grateful you're taking care of the hummies on their long trip south. I worry about them so when they leave. We have one we named "Squeakie* and he's come back 3 years in a row now. Tell me how he does that, eh?
By all means, please let me in on the secret to hand feeding. Does this involve insects or just sugar water? I’ll surely be the envy of my neighbors— like I’m not now ;)
So long as it doesn’t involve donning headgear like a saw on, I think, Animal Planet one time. I just can’t do that.
Seriously ... here's the place to begin. I found this on the GardenWeb hummingbird forum.
When I started out, I used the red cap from a cola bottle and soon discovered it was to small and didn't balance well in my hand. Eventually I found a wider based cap and it worked much better.
Good luck! Let me know how you did!
"Over the course of several days, I would simply stand beside the feeder so that they would get used to my presence. Then, I began putting my hands around the feeder so that in order to drink they had to land on my fingers. I was amazed at how quickly they were willing to do this.
The next step was to remove the feeder and place a small red cap on an old milk can in the same area. They eventually found the small replacement and began feeding. The morning the photos were taken, I simply went outside and filled the cap with the sugar water, placed it in the palm of my hand, and sat very very still. Within ten minutes, they were resting in my hands, drinking. It was sheer delight for me! I was even able to move my hands around a bit with the birds on my fingers. They are light as a feather...and simply beautiful. I can't wait until next year."
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