If
Cupid wanted to make songbirds fall in love, he’d better aim at their brains.
That’s because songbirds, which form lifelong mating pairs, have brain systems
perfectly tuned to fit together.
Take
finches. A male learns his father’s song, and performs it to attract a mate. He
sings: “Chirp, chirp – my brain is healthy, and my body is strong. That’s
something you’re into, right?”
A
female finch also learns her father’s song, but she doesn’t perform. She’s
the critic. She analyses every detail of a potential mate’s song, and
decides if she wants to keep him around.
Researchers
looking into finch brains say that each sex uses what’s called its sound
control system to convert sound waves into social messages and then use them to
find mates. While these systems are well-developed and finely tuned in both
sexes of songbirds, the wiring is different.
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