Statistical and Prosodic Cues for Song Segmentation Learning by Bengalese Finches (Lonchura striata var. domestica)

Abstract

Juvenile songbirds learn their songs from adults. Birds do not simply learn songs verbatim but they sometimes learn parts of songs from multiple tutors and recombine these into one song sequence. How they segment a particular part and select that as a chunk and how these chunks are recombined are interesting questions to ask, because such segmentation and chunking is also considered to be a basic mechanism in human language acquisition. The song of the Bengalese finch has a complex syntax with variable note‐to‐note transition probabilities and could thus be suitable for the study of segmentation and chunking in birdsong. Thirty‐two male Bengalese finch chicks were reared in a large aviary where 11 adult tutors and 10 adult females were breeding freely. In this environment most male chicks learned songs from several tutors. The song note‐chunks that juveniles copied had higher transition probabilities and shorter silent intervals than did the boundaries of the chunks, suggesting that Bengalese finches segment songs using both statistical and prosodic cues. Thus, the Bengalese finch could prove to be an excellent model in which to study neural and behavioral mechanism for sound segmentation.

Revisiting the syntactic abilities of non-human animals: natural vocalizations and artificial grammar learning

“…Next, the developmental process for the song note chunking was examined in a semi-natural rearing experiment. Adult male and female Bengalese finches were kept in a large aviary, where they raised a total of 40 male chicks [44]. When the chicks reached adulthood, which part of the song came from which tutor was examined.…”

Statistical learning in songbirds: from self-tutoring to song culture

“…Statistical learning in songbirds have been investigated using a variety of tasks involving phonological and syntax perception and artificial grammar learning [11,14,15]. In natural song development, songbirds have been shown to rely on statistical information in sequential learning [14,16]. At the neuronal level, recordings in the auditory forebrain of awake birds reveals sensitivity to statistical regularities, even to non-adjacent patterns [17].…”

Sexual communication and domestication may give rise to the signal complexity necessary for the emergence of language: An indication from songbird studies

“…For example, we found that in a free-flight cage, Bengalese chicks learned songs not only from their fathers but also from other males (Takahasi, Yamada, & Okanoya, 2010). A similar experiment was conducted with munias, but they only learned from their fathers (Kagawa et al, 2008).…”