Bird song and human speech are learned early in life and for both cases engagement with
live social tutors generally leads to better learning outcomes than passive audio-only …

In many songbird species, young birds learn their song from adult conspecifics. Like much
animal communication, birdsong is multimodal: singing is accompanied by beak and body …

We investigated the effects of audiovisual compound training on song learning in zebra
finches, Taeniopygia guttata. In the first experiment, presentation of a stuffed adult zebra …

Highlights•Animals that learn vocalizations may eavesdrop on interactions between
tutors.•We used playback to study learning through eavesdropping in wild Savannah …

Vocal imitation in songbirds exhibits interesting parallels to infant speech development and
is currently the model system of choice for exploring the behavioural, molecular and …

Bird song learning has become a powerful model system for studying learning because of its
parallels with human speech learning, recent advances in understanding of its …

We used a mixed live/synthetic tutoring design to investigate whether the social factors of
eavesdropping on adult singing interactions and/or direct interaction with a tutor would …

Social interaction is often regarded as crucial for song copying in zebra finches, Taeniopygia
guttata. Contingencies in the interaction between pupil and tutor might be essential for the …

In many oscine birds, song learning is affected by social variables, for example the
behaviour of a tutor. This implies that both auditory and visual perceptual systems should be …

Learning of song in birds provides a powerful model for human speech development [1–3].
However, the degree to which songbirds and humans share social mechanisms of vocal …