Trill seekers: can scientists use AI and tutors to help birds remember lost songs?

What we know

When populations fall, fledglings can struggle to learn the right notes to attract mates. But research on how birds communicate offers hope for species’ survival Listening to birdsong is one of life’s great joys, but when researchers heard a particular tune emerging from a tree in a Buenos Aires park, they were especially jubilant.

This arrangement was among those chirped by the local rufous-collared sparrows in the 1960s, but had since disappeared from the area. That was until scientists created a computer-generated rendition, curious to find out if birds might consider it realistic enough to imitate.

Less than three months later, a local avian resident began to copy parts of the song.