Birds are the master vocalists of the animal kingdom. They can make a remarkable variety of sounds.

But why is a barred owl more of a baritone, while a cedar waxwing is a soprano?

And what influences a bird’s vocal range, and the kinds of sounds it can make? Beak size? Body size? Geography?

To answer some of these questions, researchers analyzed over 140,000 bird vocalizations from all over the world to try to peck out some kernels of knowledge about bird calls and songs. Their research was recently published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Flora Lichtman talks with Dr. Zuzana Burivalova, assistant professor of forest & wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison about her latest research.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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