Steve Schwartz:

>The question for me is: Do birds sing just for the hell of it?

Having watched just about every TV documentary David Attenborough ever
made, I think the answer is partly that, and partly announcing to others
of the same species, "I'm available." I don't know much about the avian
world elsewhere, but there are at least a couple of local species that
are musically interesting.  The common starling amazes me every spring
by issuing a long stream of non-repeated note sequences almost as if it's
being guided by an unseen hand which plays notes at random and the bird is
its musical instrument:  it's hard to conceive of such a small brain being
capable of making such complex decisions, but of course, it must be.  The
lyrebird is a wonderful mimic, and apart from having a melodious call of
its own, incorporates sounds that it hears and reproduces them perfectly,
ie, they have been remembered long after they were heard.  It's interesting
that in recent years, its habitat has been regularly visited by loggers and
naturalists, and so its repertoire now includes the sounds of the chainsaw
and the motor winder.

Richard Pennycuick
[log in to unmask]