The pied butcherbird is considered the most accomplished songbird in Australia. Its melodies vary across the continent with no single song being sung by all of them. They improvise like jazz musicians, and the more complex each bird’s repertoire is, the better they are at rhythmically interacting with other butcherbirds. Complex duets with new melodies are common.
An international and multidisciplinary team of researchers has released a paper on a new study that shows just how musical the Australian pied butcherbird can be. The species has a musical repertoire that parallels that of human musicians. The butcherbirds play around with their songs and walk the fine line between repetition and variation.
According to co-author Hollis Taylor, a violinist and biomusicologist (who knew there was such a thing!) at Macquarie University, “Since pied butcherbird songs share so many commonalities with human music, this species could possibly revolutionize the way we think about the core values of music.”
As scientists, discovering this level of musicality in birds raises questions about evolution. They like to ask what function do beauty and creativity have in our evolution. I think we can also ask what function do we have in the evolution of beauty and creativity. It’s no surprise that more than a few composers have been inspired to incorporate the songs of the pied butcherbird into human music. Maybe it should be called a duet of evolution.
In this video clip you can hear the blending of music, imitation, and communication – something that is being acknowledged more often as we build our understanding of other amazing species.