Decoding the language of birds | 101 in 101

If you’re not a bird person, you may not be able to distinguish between the different sounds birds make. Birdsong — the courting and territorial vocalization of songbirds — has been studied for decades, but less is understood about bird chatter, or the other chirps made by all flock members throughout the day. Now, we have new insights into the meanings of their chat, thanks to Julie Elie, an associate project scientist in Berkeley’s department of neuroscience research.

Elie has spent years listening to the zebra finch — a small, social songbird. Her patient studies have yielded new insights into the language of the tiny finches, and won her the 2026 Coller-Dolittle prize, which rewards progress towards interspecies communication.

“Every day I'm coming to work and I'm trying to find out, okay, what is this animal telling me?” Elie says. Originally from France, she says she’s always been interested in how animals communicate. She visited wild zebra finches in the Australian outback, spending weeks patiently recording their chats, but found herself limited by field constraints (songbirds move around a lot!). Identifying and understanding the contexts of the sounds she was hearing were both key to unlocking their language, but mostly inaccessible. Back on campus, in aviaries, it became a bit easier to connect vocalizations to birds’ behaviors.

For full story, visit: news.berkeley.edu
Video by Chris Chang & Charlotte Buchen Khadra

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