Like many parents, zebra finches sing to their young. But some parental songs seem to prepare the baby birds for hot weather, even before they leave the egg.
Zebra finches live in sun-crisped Australian woodlands. On hot days, adults make a rapid, peeping “heat call.” It kicks off genetic changes in the brains of their unhatched babies. The tune acts like a weather forecast. It prepares them for the broiling conditions on the outside of the eggshell.
Researchers described their new findings June 11 in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
A decade ago, behavioral ecologist Mylene Mariette was part of a team that made a discovery. Exposure to heat calls in the egg, shortly before hatching, changed how chicks of these zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) dealt with high temperatures. They grew more slowly. They also preferred warmer places to nest. In all, they seemed better able to handle heat.
But one mystery remained: How could hearing a simple song trigger all this?
Singin’ for the brain
Mariette, of Deakin University in...
English (US)