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Listening to Birdsong Scientists had noticed slight variations in the songs of male zebra finches based on whether they were singing alone or whether there was a female nearby. With an audience, the males sped up the pace of their songs and controlled the notes they used. For this Study, researchers Sarah C. Woolley and Allison Doupe at the University of California, San Francisco decided to focus attention on the listening females, which have not been well studied in the past. Female birds were placed between the two speakers. Some of the birds had mates, others didnt. The females shifted around a bit, and then most of them hopped over to sit beside just one speaker. All the birds that made a clear choice liked songs meant for a female audience, even if theyd never met the male. Scientists then studied the brains of the females. They found certain areas of the brain perked up when the birds listened to the concert songs. These brain areas may be involved in recognizing and evaluating the songs, and storing the memories of them. This research deals with whats called directed communication, when the communicator, or sender, focuses the message for a specific audience. One example is the way morns speak to their babies. Mothers around the world use the same sort of high-pitched sing-song chatter, and the babies respond best to those sounds. Songbirds are one of the only other species known to learn their communication, in this case their songs. | 
