Soundproof chambers for the study of songbird perception

The main focus of this research program is to study the links between brain and behaviour when songbirds listen to vocalizations from their own species. Like humans learn speech, songbirds learn their vocalizations: young male songbirds must hear adult males sing in order to produce accurate song as adults. Males also listen to other males when defending territory. Females listen to male song for mate choice. Both sexes also have specific regions in the brain that are active when birds listen to song and other vocalizations. However, compared to song learning and production in males, perception of vocalizations in general and any seasonal plasticity in perception or neural regions has been studied far less, especially in females. My research program will examine both behavioural and neural aspects of perception of conspecific vocalizations. To do this, I will look at activity in neural regions associated with listening to song when birds are exposed to playback of various stimuli. Since these stimuli are usually vocalizations from other birds, I will also be recording vocalizations from all birds that come into the laboratory. To perform these experiments and obtain clean recordings, I require 4 soundproof booths to house the birds while participating in experiments. This research will provide a more complete picture of seasonality in brain and behaviour in songbirds by providing information on perception, a previously neglected area of research.