Specified Complexities in Bird Songs

One source of entertainment for us is hearing the birdies chirp. Actually, chirp is an understatement in many cases (except for sparrows, seems they do not have much of a repertoire), as some have rather intricate songs for certain purposes or time of the day. Something quite startling to me is the variety used by the mockingbird.

"The price is right, too. Cheep!"

And you give me grief for bad jokes. Moving on...

Happy wren image credit: Wikimedia Commons / Francesco Veronesi (CC BY-SA 2.0)

To further the amazement factor, some birds sing elaborate songs with partners, and they have specified complexity. Birds use their grass seed-sized brains to respond at the right time with others, and sometimes they sing in perfect unison. Also, they demonstrate the greater thinking abilities than apes (our "close relatives"). Evolutionists are surprised — this happens frequently — because of their worldviews. That is, time, chance, random processes, materialism, and so on. Might be less surprise and more appreciation happening if they realized that our Creator designed them to do what they do, you savvy?

The Psalmist wrote that the birds of the air “sing among the branches” (Psalm 104:12). Just how well they can sing is becoming increasingly apparent to researchers.

In various bird species, pairs (a male and a female) are able to not only sing in tightly synchronized unison but also in antiphonal duets. In songs sung antiphonally, the male and female sing alternating song phrases, frequently in rapid succession and with such precise timing and coordination that people have often mistaken them to be a single bird singing.

Note the second bird to sing in an antiphonal duet must correctly and quickly recognize which song in their musical repertoire the first bird has initiated, in order to correctly contribute the next phrase of the song. Otherwise the duet would end prematurely.

To read the rest of this short article, click on "Birdsong isn’t for ‘birdbrains’".

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