In one of the stranger manifestations of species decline in Australia, the Critically-Endangered regent honeyeater is having to re-learn its natural love song.
With 300 or fewer of these beautiful birds left in the wild, young solitary males have been observed mimicking the calls of other honeyeaters, and even other birds.
The songs are part of the regent honeyeater’s mating tradition, and if lost, the birds at risk of vanishing won’t even know how to find a lover.
But scientists at the Australian National University weren’t about to let this happen, and so set up ‘music lessons’ for captive males in a breeding program.
Beginning in 2021, scientists overseeing the program tried playing for their birds the “Blue Mountains Typical,” an aria sung by the regent honeyeater in their native highland habitat in the state of New South Wales.
A “clipped” or piecemeal version of the Blue Mountains Typical has been recorded by these birds in the wild, likely a result of having little to no contact with other adults who know it by heart.
After some initial success playing recordings of the song, ANU behavioral ecologist and conservationist at the Taronga Conservation Society, Joy Tripovich, said that the team behind the long-established captive breeding program for regent honeyeaters began to bring wild males into the aviary to teach young males the song.
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She spoke with ABC News Australia about the process.
“The simplest way that we’ve actually cracked this code is by just mimicking what happens in nature, by having a tutor, a wild bird, next to the youngsters, so they had direct interactions,” Dr. Tripovich said.
“It’s pretty remarkable … the first time it happened the smiles on people’s faces were just amazing because you knew you’d just managed to capture this wild song.”
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As the years marched on towards present day, the team at Taronga refined the music lessons; eventually knowing exactly how many ‘students’ could manage to learn from a single ‘teacher;’ between 4 and 5.
“We are releasing the birds that can actually sing into the wild, with the hope that wild calls can be re-established,” Dr. Tripovich said.
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