Jeffrey Podos Weighs in on New Study Identifying Eight Basic 'Motifs' in Birdsongs
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A new global study in Science finds that songbirds build their remarkably diverse songs from just eight basic acoustic elements, or "motifs," including trills, whistles, harmonic stacks, and chaotic notes. Audobon asked Jeffrey Podos, a professor in the College of Natural Sciences's Department of Biology with expertise in bioacoustics, about the study's findings in a recent article. Though not directly involved with this study, Podos argues that it offers a "highly original" way to understand how birds construct their songs while embracing their inherent complexity.
The study found that birds routinely combine multiple motifs, with a typical species using about five of the eight building blocks in its repertoire. The findings complement Podos's longstanding research into how we can characterize aspects of vocal production and perception in songbirds—and they offer a new framework for understanding birdsong on a global scale.
"Jeff Podos, a bioacoustician at University of Massachusetts Amherst who was not involved with the study, says the research offers a 'highly original' framework for interpreting birdsong. 'The authors developed a nuanced, analytical approach that embraces the intrinsic complexity of bird songs, which regularly include multiple motifs.'"
— Audobon