The forgotten tweet: Why was female bird song ignored?
After centuries of research focusing on male birds, scientists are now exploring female song, revealing that it is more common and complex than previously thought. The historical bias, driven by a male-dominated field and a focus on northern migratory species, is being challenged as more women enter ornithology.
Chirps of discrimination: Since the days of Charles Darwin, research on birds has focused primarily on males, and most experts were of the opinion that they are the ones who sing and chirp loudly, while females do so much less. However, in recent years, after female song was almost unstudied, research has begun on them as well. The result: fascinating discoveries about the voices of females and the meanings behind their singing.
What is hidden behind this long-term discrimination? Dr. Yael Lenard from Ben-Gurion University, who researches the effects of noise pollution on animals, explained:
"The research of bird voices begins in the world, in parallel with most research in biology, in the northern regions of the Earth. The main phenomenon that researchers see is the courtship that takes place in the spring. In species in Northern Europe and North America, female song is not a common thing. This is in contrast to tropical regions and the Southern Hemisphere, where there are many species where females sing. But hundreds of years ago they did not receive the same treatment in research, which was mostly around the courtship and singing of males. And even if the females answer them, their singing is less complex and quieter. When they sing, it is in interaction with the male. A duet. This is in contrast to the territorial singing of the male who advertises himself from a distance so that females and other males can hear him."
A question of courtship
"Traditionally, birdwatchers have more interest in males," explains Dr. Yoav Perlman, director of the Birding Center of the Society for the Protection of Nature. "Many times they are more colorful and active and perform the courtship behavior." However, he adds that: "The hobby of birdwatching and bird photography is dominated by men, and this probably contributed to this bias. In recent decades, as birdwatching becomes more popular and broad and the community more diverse, the world is becoming more professional and backed by data, and today there is more attention directed to females."
In other words: the moment women entered the field of ornithology more and more, they started to see the world in a different way. Dr. Lenard explains that the strong and powerful singing of males captured the full research attention until actually 20 years ago. The matter was so dominant in the discourse that even when researchers heard a female's song, they labeled it in their heads as something exceptional and insignificant.
Other voices
Dr. Lenard participated this week in the World Animal Behavior Conference in Italy, where studies were presented that try to understand and characterize female song. "It is entering the mainstream and you no longer have to be a woman to research it. Women established this thing, but now it is not something that only interests female researchers," she notes.
Aya Mark, a doctoral student in the Animal Flight Laboratory at the University of Haifa, conducted her research on bulbuls. "Most of the reference in the literature is to male song, although we know that females also sing," says Mark. "We identified that the bulbul has a wide repertoire with a hierarchical structure of complex calls built from basic units. Moreover, our results show that different populations of bulbuls have a unique repertoire of words."
Prof. Roi Dor from the Open University adds: "It is easier to work with males, who spend more time singing. Also, more males are caught because they are more curious. Females usually stay in the nest and you don't see them. The one who does the first actions is the male." Dr. Lenard concludes that recently the field is more ready to deal with such issues, and there are many more women in science.
