4 ms·

Birds Changed Their Tune During the Pandemic

85 points by samizdis 4y ago

automatorbijan 4y ago
- RunningDroid 4y ago
  Are you serious, or is this sarcasm?
  - sophacles 4y ago
    Personally, I'd rather not find out the answer - The most interesting part about the comment is the mystery around this question.
- fxtentacle 4y ago
  You created an account, then lurked 82 days, to finally say this?
  - 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
    I'm noticing that a lot around here.
mikotodomo 4y ago
That's crazy, like something out of a movie. Growing up in the pandemic was the most surreal thing. Knowing any second there could be an outbreak, or a new transmission vector could be discovered that we weren't covering. Having to stay inside the house and even in there wear masks sometimes, for a year was something out of a world war movie. It was like we were all stuck back home fighting for our soldiers out in the front line.
- shadowofneptune 4y ago
  Despite appearances, it is still going. The amount of hospital space needed for COVID-19 patients is lowered, but the strains on the medical system, on society, continue. It's going to be a persistent cost we all pay for years more.
  - blooalien 4y ago
    It's shocking to me the massive number of folks who don't understand this basic detail. Same with "climate change" or whatever it's called this week. We'll be paying the cost of ignoring that one for decades if not centuries to come…
- ifsothen 4y ago
mnorris 4y ago
The paper by Elizabeth Derryberry [1] is really fascinating. They classified four distinct dialects of white-crowned sparrows in urban and rural communities and studied the changes of their bird song when background noise levels lowered during the pandemic. They measured a doubling of the signal-to-noise ratio of bird songs to urban noise, which doubled the distance you can hear birds and lead to a 4-fold increase in the amount of birds that you heard during that time. I recently learned how to distinguish between different bird types by appearance and their songs thanks to Merlin Bird ID, which is essentially a Pokédex for birds. Being able to identify different bird species has been eye-opening since I had never paid much attention to the different songs and behaviors of different birds. Anyone can record audio and the spectrum of bird songs in the recording can be used to classify the bird species. It's super accessible to anyone who's interested in getting started. Also, white crown sparrows are really cute. [1] http://www.engdes.com/sigwin/company/biblio/papers/Singing%20in%20a%20silent%20spring%20(Derryberry%20et%20al%202020)%20V2.pdf http://www.engdes.com/sigwin/company/biblio/papers/Singing%2...
- sva_ 4y ago
  The idea that birds can modulate their signal strength based on noise level seems very crazy to me. But what exactly are they transmitting? It seems like the information content must be something more than 'basic' calls for mating partners, threat management, and perhaps nutritional information? It makes me wonder what else birds may care about.
x3iv130f 4y ago
I had to stop reading this article when it used the term "unnatural quiet". It is the noise that is unnatural, not the quiet. Ancient cities teemed with birds and bird songs, so much so that birds were often featured heavily in their creative works. See: https://aeon.co/essays/the-ancient-world-teemed-with-birds-now-we-think-with-them https://aeon.co/essays/the-ancient-world-teemed-with-birds-n... Now, the artificial has intruded itself into the natural world. When I open the window of my urban apartment, the bird songs I hear have melodies like jackhammers and car alarms. The birds in cities now make the same sounds as the cities. The natural world has adapted, and in doing so has become the same as the artificial.
- grayfaced 4y ago
  Birds here still mimic the 90s car alarm (You know the one that cycles between patterns every few seconds) even though I haven't heard that particular car alarm in at least a decade. How long will it take for birds to change that song? I'm near a military base and I've never heard birds take on the bugle songs that come over loudspeakers (e.g. revelry, taps). I've also never heard birds sing the Ice Cream truck song. What makes some certain sounds so impressionable on birds?
  - _def 4y ago
    I'm not sure but to me it sounds like there is some similarity in how a bird modulates sounds and how primitive synthesizers do it, so I guess those sounds are easier to mimic or something
  - Dalewyn 4y ago
    >What makes some certain sounds so impressionable on birds? I'd hazard a guess it's something similar to how some patterns of noise to us are music, while other patterns of noise are akin to nails screeching across blackboard. I don't know the science behind it, but if humans find appeal in certain noises then it won't surprise me if our peers upon this planet also do.
- Guthur 4y ago
  There is nothing unnatural about our world, stop maintaining this anti human view point, are ants or termites unnatural for example? This view that humanity is evil is the true racism.

85 points by samizdis 4y ago

RunningDroid 4y ago
Are you serious, or is this sarcasm?
- sophacles 4y ago
  Personally, I'd rather not find out the answer - The most interesting part about the comment is the mystery around this question.
fxtentacle 4y ago
You created an account, then lurked 82 days, to finally say this?
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
  I'm noticing that a lot around here.

That's crazy, like something out of a movie. Growing up in the pandemic was the most surreal thing. Knowing any second there could be an outbreak, or a new transmission vector could be discovered that we weren't covering. Having to stay inside the house and even in there wear masks sometimes, for a year was something out of a world war movie. It was like we were all stuck back home fighting for our soldiers out in the front line.

shadowofneptune 4y ago
Despite appearances, it is still going. The amount of hospital space needed for COVID-19 patients is lowered, but the strains on the medical system, on society, continue. It's going to be a persistent cost we all pay for years more.
- blooalien 4y ago
  It's shocking to me the massive number of folks who don't understand this basic detail. Same with "climate change" or whatever it's called this week. We'll be paying the cost of ignoring that one for decades if not centuries to come…
ifsothen 4y ago

mnorris 4y ago

The paper by Elizabeth Derryberry [1] is really fascinating. They classified four distinct dialects of white-crowned sparrows in urban and rural communities and studied the changes of their bird song when background noise levels lowered during the pandemic. They measured a doubling of the signal-to-noise ratio of bird songs to urban noise, which doubled the distance you can hear birds and lead to a 4-fold increase in the amount of birds that you heard during that time. I recently learned how to distinguish between different bird types by appearance and their songs thanks to Merlin Bird ID, which is essentially a Pokédex for birds. Being able to identify different bird species has been eye-opening since I had never paid much attention to the different songs and behaviors of different birds. Anyone can record audio and the spectrum of bird songs in the recording can be used to classify the bird species. It's super accessible to anyone who's interested in getting started. Also, white crown sparrows are really cute. [1] http://www.engdes.com/sigwin/company/biblio/papers/Singing%20in%20a%20silent%20spring%20(Derryberry%20et%20al%202020)%20V2.pdf http://www.engdes.com/sigwin/company/biblio/papers/Singing%2...

sva_ 4y ago
The idea that birds can modulate their signal strength based on noise level seems very crazy to me. But what exactly are they transmitting? It seems like the information content must be something more than 'basic' calls for mating partners, threat management, and perhaps nutritional information? It makes me wonder what else birds may care about.

x3iv130f 4y ago

I had to stop reading this article when it used the term "unnatural quiet". It is the noise that is unnatural, not the quiet. Ancient cities teemed with birds and bird songs, so much so that birds were often featured heavily in their creative works. See: https://aeon.co/essays/the-ancient-world-teemed-with-birds-now-we-think-with-them https://aeon.co/essays/the-ancient-world-teemed-with-birds-n... Now, the artificial has intruded itself into the natural world. When I open the window of my urban apartment, the bird songs I hear have melodies like jackhammers and car alarms. The birds in cities now make the same sounds as the cities. The natural world has adapted, and in doing so has become the same as the artificial.

grayfaced 4y ago
Birds here still mimic the 90s car alarm (You know the one that cycles between patterns every few seconds) even though I haven't heard that particular car alarm in at least a decade. How long will it take for birds to change that song? I'm near a military base and I've never heard birds take on the bugle songs that come over loudspeakers (e.g. revelry, taps). I've also never heard birds sing the Ice Cream truck song. What makes some certain sounds so impressionable on birds?
- _def 4y ago
  I'm not sure but to me it sounds like there is some similarity in how a bird modulates sounds and how primitive synthesizers do it, so I guess those sounds are easier to mimic or something
- Dalewyn 4y ago
  >What makes some certain sounds so impressionable on birds? I'd hazard a guess it's something similar to how some patterns of noise to us are music, while other patterns of noise are akin to nails screeching across blackboard. I don't know the science behind it, but if humans find appeal in certain noises then it won't surprise me if our peers upon this planet also do.
Guthur 4y ago
There is nothing unnatural about our world, stop maintaining this anti human view point, are ants or termites unnatural for example? This view that humanity is evil is the true racism.