! The distinctive trill of a critically endangered regent honeyeater brings a beam to woodland bird expert Mick Roderick’s face.
But there are signs this could be turning around. Ebullient birdwatchers from BirdLife Australia report several zoo-bred birds released into the wild seem to have learned the songs of wild birds. Unlike bird calls, which are innate, birdsongs are learned over time and the complex musical arrangements are used in courtship and mating.With fewer than 400 regents left in the wild, researchers feared there simply weren’t enough mature regents left to teach younger males how to sing their way into a would-be mate’s heart.
“If they had a better song when they were released, they were more likely to go on to be successful in the wild. And we put that down to probably forming up flocks with the other regent honeyeaters, and also the opportunity to find a mate.” Dr Ross Crates, from Australian National University, sounded a note of caution about whether captive-born regents were recovering their songs after release to the wild., said there was no evidence from many years of observations in the zoo that regent honeyeaters could drastically change their songs once they were more than a year old.