• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Parrot talk

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
September 6, 2025
in Biology
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

During flock encounters, a single vocal interaction seems to be sufficient for making the decision of whether to recruit an individual or flock. Parrots are known for their splendid ability to imitate, including the contact calls of other individuals during vocal interactions. Such rapid vocal matching is hypothesised to precede and mediate the formation of new flocks. But how are such interactions perceived by others?

Heidi M. Thomsen, first author and PhD student at the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen explains:

-“By using a novel experimental design, we were able to gain valurable insights in the flock decisions of a social parrot, the orange-fronted conure (Eupsittula canicularis). We conducted a field experiment in which flocks of wild orange-fronted conures were attracted to two loudspeakers simulating two orange-fronted conures engaged in a contact call interaction. During the interaction, one simulated individual would act as the leader by calling first, followed by the other individual. We specifically tailored the playback so the contact calls of the follower would imitate those of the leader. The listening wild flocks could now decide to fly after either the leader or the follower to fuse with it”.

The results showed that flocks primarily chose to fuse with the leaders of the simulated vocal interactions. Furthermore, flocks responded with higher contact call rates and with contact calls that were more similar to the playback when they chose to fuse with a leader compared to trials where they chose a follower. Especially if the leader was a male.

-“Although we do not yet know why leaders are preferred, our findings suggest that orange-fronted conure flocks rely on eavesdropping on vocal interactions to infer the relative quality of unfamiliar individuals. While orange-fronted conures frequently engage in contact call imitation during vocal interactions with conspecifics, we here illustrate that vocal imitation also has implications for potential third party listeners”: says Heidi M. Thomsen.

These birds respond selectively to interactants, indicating that contact call imitation plays an essential role in facilitating the formation and maintenance of affiliative social interactions – and not only with the individuals they directly interact with. This is a missing key to understanding the function of vocal imitation in parrots.

###

Media Contact
Heidi M. Thomsen
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www1.bio.ku.dk/nyheder/nyheder/parrot-talk/

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252374

Tags: BehaviorBiodiversityBiologyEcology/EnvironmentEvolutionPopulation BiologyZoology/Veterinary Science
Share13Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Diverse Strategies Enable Fly Embryos to Resolve the Challenge of ‘Tissue Tectonic Collision’

September 9, 2025
blank

Elephant Group Size and Age in Serengeti vs. Mikumi

September 9, 2025

Tiny Genetic Light Switches Revolutionize Disease Control

September 9, 2025

Research Spotlight: Immune Defense Creates Openings in the Heart

September 8, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    151 shares
    Share 60 Tweet 38
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    116 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • First Confirmed Human Mpox Clade Ib Case China

    56 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • A Laser-Free Alternative to LASIK: Exploring New Vision Correction Methods

    48 shares
    Share 19 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Diverse Strategies Enable Fly Embryos to Resolve the Challenge of ‘Tissue Tectonic Collision’

Optimizing Energy-Level Alignment in Perovskite Solar Cells: Insights from an Energy Flow Perspective

Tiny Yet Mighty: Metamaterial Lenses Revolutionize Phones and Drones

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.