Bird hearing and balance study
Every morning just before dawn, birds begin to sing. Across urban, rural, and forested environments, birdsong is an ever-present part of our soundscape and carries specific meaning to its listeners. Acoustic communication is essential for many birds that vocalize to attract potential mates, deter competitors, and interact with their offspring. Think of all the different songs you hear in the dawn chorus! Have you ever wondered about how those birds receive and process that information? How do birds communicate in areas impacted by human-generated noise? Did you know their inner ears not only process critical sounds, but also aid in flight and navigation via balance mechanisms?
Unfortunately, we can’t test hearing or balance directly in most bird species, but we can leverage predictive modeling to gain a greater understanding of their hearing abilities. Our research bridges behavioral and physiological bird hearing data with high-resolution anatomical data to model auditory performance. Using these models, we can evaluate how acoustic communication in birds is shaped by the structure of their ears, their evolutionary history, and their environment. We may even be able to estimate whether human-generated noise affects hearing and balance in birds, enabling us to predict how adaptable they may be to variable levels of noise pollution across habitats.
Our goals are to:
1) Establish an open database that compiles hearing and balance data from living bird species and allows scientists to add data as it becomes available.
2) Perform high-resolution 3D imaging and anatomical analysis of middle and inner ear structures to understand the relationship between hearing and balance function and anatomical constraints.
3) Use these data to make predictions about the evolution of hearing and balance in birds, how it relates to changing acoustic habitats over millennia (fossils!), and provide a foundation for predicting how living species might adapt to rapidly changing global environmental conditions.
(photo credits: Geoffrey Baker, used with permission, https://www.bakerfineartphotography.com/)
