ABSTRACT
Songbirds are one of a few examples of animals (including humans) that require hearing a model of species-typical vocalizations in order to accurately learn to sing themselves. To support this developmental process, songbirds have dedicated neural regions and pathways, and associated neurotransmitters, for learning song, in addition to those for production and perception. However, changing and disappearing habitats may introduce elements that interfere with the ability of offspring to learn song from adults and compromise the underlying neural architecture that supports song learning. This chapter will review the ontogeny of song learning and the related neural structures and describe results from both laboratory and field experiments examining effects of anthropogenic changes such as increased noise, stress from noise and food restriction, and environmental contaminants. We also consider how songbirds may be able to adapt to some changes but not others. We suggest these constraints can inform habitat conservation in ways that allow songbirds to develop behaviours related to vocal communication that are critical for mate selection and, ultimately, species survival.
