News

How urban architecture is shaping birdsong

SCIENTISTS at Aberystwyth University have discovered why birds sing at higher pitches in towns and cities. Previously it was thought that great tits and other common birds sung at a higher pitch in noisy areas to avoid the low pitch noise from traffic and industry.

But scientists from Aberystwyth University’s Institute for Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) department have discovered that buildings are changing the way birds sing in cities. Dr Rupert Marshall, a Lecturer in Animal Behaviour at IBERS, said: “In woodland where trees and leaves obscure the view, many species of songbird can tell how far away a rival is by how degraded its song is.

Click here for the full story, or see this week's Aberystwyth edition of the Cambrian News