Bright flags in the breeze. — haiku by Harry Morgan, Pleasanton Dear Gary: I am an avid listener to the many sounds surrounding our rural home in the Altamont hills. One recent morning while listening ...

Although the Northern Mockingbird seems to have the most recognized reputation as a sound mimic among the songbirds, there are other songbirds (not parrots) with more expansive repertoires and several ...

When scientists played R2-D2’s famous bleeps and whistles for a group of birds, they weren’t expecting a concert — but that’s exactly what they got. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam and ...

The European starling -- long known as a virtuoso songbird and as an expert mimic too -- may also soon gain a reputation as something of a "grammar-marm." This three-ounce bird, new research shows, ...

At least some birds can learn a pattern once proposed as unique to the grammars of human languages, say researchers. Starlings trained in a lab have learned to distinguish between sounds strung ...