Hummingbirds May Change Their Tunes to Attract Females

  

The male hummingbird is a dedicated suitor, returning to the same place every day for up to eight months a year to trumpet his availability–for as long as eight hours at a stretch. He’ll repeat his song two times per second, hoping for a female to heed his call.Hummingbirds’ songs are distinguished by more than just their duration; the birds are among a select group that learn their vocalizations (songbirds and parrots are the other two). Songs can vary by individual or by location, creating what scientists call “song neighborhoods” and “dialects.

”Scientists had long thought that male hummingbirds learned their song while young and then “crystallized” that melody for life.

But Marcelo Araya Salas and Timothy Wright, biologists at New Mexico State University, have recently observed some male long-billed hermit hummingbirds (Phaethornis longirostris)changing their tunes in Costa Rica, suggesting they are capable of learning new songs even later in life. (See hummingbird pictures.)

“In most cases this new song also matches those of neighbors,” says Wright, whose work is partly funded by a National Geographic Society grant. “But occasionally a male will develop a brand-new song type.” According to Wright, this marks “the first time such open-ended learning has been shown in a hummingbird.”

                                                               

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