MADRID (Reuters) - Larks sing better when they live in thriving groups and their song suffers when they are under threat, according to a study by Spanish scientists. The four-year study in Spain's Ebro River Valley showed the complexity of song by male Dupont's Larks was correlated to how long a colony had been established and how many chicks had been born.
MADRID (Reuters) - Larks sing better when they live in thriving groups and their song suffers when they are under threat, according to a study by Spanish scientists.
The four-year study in Spain's Ebro River Valley showed the complexity of song by male Dupont's Larks was correlated to how long a colony had been established and how many chicks had been born.
In small, recently established groups, larks sang as few as three or four differentiated phrases, compared to up to 12 in larger colonies, according to the study by Spain's Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) published on Wednesday in the Public Library of Science.
The scientists suspect that young larks in smaller colonies have fewer examples to imitate when learning to sing. The quality of lark song could serve as an early warning sign that populations are in danger, CSIC said.
!ADVERTISEMENT!(Reporting by Cristina Fuentes-Cantillana; Editing by Alastair Sharp)
