Research summary
Songbirds’ vocalizations are critical to their survival, playing a key role in their ability to find mates, establish territory and evade predators.
Dr. Christopher Sturdy, Canada Research Chair in Animal Cognition, Communication, and Neuroethology, is trying to understand songbirds’ vocal communication in an integrative manner, from behaviour to brain. He wants to figure out how they communicate through songs and calls. To do this, he and his research team are using a number of different but convergent research techniques that are all focused on answering this single overarching research question.