BioMusic
Author: | Debra Hall & Crystal Patillo |
Level: | Elementary School |
Content Area: | Science, Music |
Author: | Debra Hall & Crystal Patillo |
Level: | Elementary School |
Content Area: | Science, Music |
What songs or sounds can birds copy?
Content Standard A: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
Content Standard C: Life Science
Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
Competency Goal One: The learner will conduct investigations and build an understanding of animal life cycle.
Competency Goal Four: The learner will conduct investigations and use appropriate technology to build an understanding of the concepts of sound.
GOAL 6: The learner will listen to, analyze, and describe music. (National Standard 6)
GOAL 8: The learner will understand relationships between music, the other arts, and content areas outside the arts. (National Standard 8)
Some types of birds imitate calls and songs from other birds.
The Northern Mockingbird is known for its mimicry. It imitates not only birds but also other animals and mechanical sounds such as car alarms. As convincing as these imitations may be to humans, they often fail to fool other birds. The Northern Mockingbird's mimicry is likely to serve as a tool for increasing the size of its repertoire and thus its ability to attract females. The mockingbird is limited to imitating short units of sound, which it repeats several times before moving on to a new sound. As a result, the mockingbird sounds much better (to a human ear) imitating some species than others. Species with repetitive songs are effectively copied, but species with long, complex songs cannot be effectively imitated by the mockingbird.
The Northern Mockingbird, in addition to being a good mimic, is also one of the loudest and most constantly vocal of birds. It often sings through the night, especially unmated males, or when the moon is full. It sings year-round except sometimes for the late-summer molting season. Individual males have repertoires of 50 to 200 songs; females sing as well, but more quietly and less often than males. Mockingbirds usually sing the loudest in the twilight of the early morning when the sun is on the horizon. Mockingbirds make a harsh, raspy noise when chasing other birds out of their territory. A similar but distinct call is used when defending against predators like a hawk or falcon. Other calls include a wheezing noise, a "chuck" note, and a very piercing series of notes "high low" repeated twice.
Blue Jays use their skill of being able to copy other birds for several reasons. The Blue Jay frequently mimics the calls of hawks, especially the Red-shouldered Hawk. These calls may provide information to other jays that a hawk is around, or may be used to deceive other species into believing a hawk is present so that they can eat.
45 minutes
Group participation
Science notebook record of observations.