Songbirds

William and audio king Dave Stewart spend the day recording the songs of our warbling wonders in Queensland. William then tries to work out why magpies swoop at us before observing the courting ritual of the Great Bowerbird. -- Background Information SONGBIRDS Lamington Songbirds are the largest group of birds. Across the world there are around 4000 different types of songbirds – and all of these probably originated in Australia. A fossil was found on a cattle property in someone’s garden in outback Queensland representing the oldest songbird known so far. The fossils were dated to 54 million years - nearly 25 million years older than the oldest previously known songbird fossils found in France. As well as this fossil evidence, scientists carried out the largest DNA study of birds to trace the origins of perching birds back to the super-continent Gondwana. Magpie Magpies produce some of the most complex songs and have one of the largest range of vocalizations of any songbird. ‘Warbling’ by lone magpies is probably the most tuneful of their calls, single songs have been recorded that go for 70 minutes. Carolling (singing in chorus) is unique to magpies and it’s all about ownership of territory. Magpie chicks can sing within 3 weeks of hatching. Magpies are exceptional mimics but only mimic what is permanent in their territory, and in doing so form a vocal map of their surroundings. They seem to be able to recognize individual humans in their territories easily. Bowerbird No other birds build bowers. Charles Darwin commented bowers are ‘the most wonderful instances of bird architecture yet discovered’. Male bowerbirds show their intelligence by building their bowers, and their strength and dominance by protecting their bower from other birds. So the female can visit a range of males and bowers and see which male will give the best genes for her offspring. Male bowerbirds attract females to their bowers, mate with them, then ha