Starlings' Songs Shed Light on Language

Starlings make a complex assortment of sounds, including rattles, warbles, and whistles and they learn song patterns from other individuals and embed the learned sounds into existing songs.

For these reasons, scientists are now looking to starlings to shed light on the development of language. And they are finding that not only are starlings' vocalizations highly complex, but the mere definition of language is turning out to be rather complicated.

Find out more: Starlings' Listening Skills May Shed Light on Language Evolution (New York Times)

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