Nestling songbirds relocated as part of conservation programmes successfully learn the song repertoires they need to communicate – and ultimately survive – in the wild, a new study has found.
The research, published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, is the first to follow translocated songbird chicks over time to assess their song development.
It focused on populations of cirl buntings (Emberiza cirlus), taken from a number of sites in Devon before being hand-reared and then reintroduced in Cornwall as part of a major programme co-ordinated by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) between 2006 and 2011.
Cirl buntings are songbirds, which means they need to learn their songs from adult tutors and the relocated birds were all chicks that were hand-reared.
Read more at University of Plymouth
Photo Credit: Paco Gómez via Wikimedia Commons
