The importance of sound signals in the life of birds. Sound signals in animals and their role in animal behavior. Mechanisms for producing sounds by birds
Fokin S.Yu. Acoustic signaling and biological basis for controlling bird behavior during artificial game breeding // Game breeding in hunting. Collection of scientific works of the Central Scientific Research Laboratory of Glavokhoty of the RSFSR. Moscow, 1982. pp. 157-170.
ACOUSTIC SIGNALING AND BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BIRD BEHAVIOR CONTROL IN ARTIFICIAL WILDLIFE BREEDING
The possibility of using bioacoustics in hunting was first pointed out by V.D. Ilyichev (1975) and A.V. Tikhonov (1977). However, special research was started only recently, at the Central Scientific Research Laboratory of Glavohota of the RSFSR. They will help solve a number of complex problems facing domestic game breeding and increase its efficiency. Until now, in the hunting industry, sound communication between animals has been used only when hunting game using the luring method and when counting some animals by voice. However, the study of bird sound signaling has shown the fundamental possibility of using it in controlling the behavior of birds.
The development of methods for controlling the behavior of birds is based on knowledge of individual behavioral acts and vocal reactions of birds in the behavioral complex characteristic of a given species. The basis of bird communication is acoustic and visual communication, which have a close relationship. The complexity of the organization of acoustic signaling systems in birds is manifested in the presence of two basic principles for encoding information in signals. On the one hand, this is multifunctionality (Simkin, 1977), in which the same acoustic signal has several functions (for example, the song of birds serves to mark the nesting territory, “scare off” other males, but at the same time to attract females and even to divert the enemy from the nest). On the other hand, this is parallel coding, according to which different types of signals convey similar information (Simkin, 1974), for example, various comfort signals of chicks reflect the same comfort situation. The dominance of the emotional principle over the semantic principle in many cases makes it difficult to analyze the acoustic signaling systems of birds. However, in most brood birds, acoustic signals are more often associated with a certain functional significance, especially during the nesting period and during the movement of broods (Tikhonov and Fokin, 1931). The specific organization of sounds (tonal, noise and trill signals) is associated with the most rational range of their propagation (Ilyichev, 1968; Simkin, 1974).
Attempts to classify bird calls have been repeatedly made by various researchers. The main difficulty is that it is impossible to identify the mechanism of language in birds and humans, since the logical foundations of the communicative processes of animals are fundamentally different (Simkin, 1932). A.S. Malchevsky (1972) divides the sound signals of birds into 2 main types: situational and signaling. In the first case, communication occurs through signals that have an expanded meaning depending on the biological situation. In the second, a system of specialized sound reactions is used, and the signals associated with a certain physiological state of the bird have a strictly defined biological meaning. This type can be classified according to functional characteristics. The author identifies calling and protective signals with a detailed classification of each group (Malchevsky, 1974).
G.N. Simkin (1977) proposed a new scheme for the functional classification of acoustic signals of birds, based on the maximum differentiation of signal values. He divided all sound signals into 3 main groups, each of which includes smaller categories:
1. The main urges given throughout the year: the main species calling cry, school and group urges, food signals, alarm signals, conflict signals, special signals from the emotional sphere.
2. Urges of the reproductive cycle: mating phase, parental phase.
3. Calls of chicks and fledglings.
Parental signals of brood birds are usually divided into “following call”, “food call”, “gathering signal”, contact signals, alarm signal (in chicken birds the signals for air and ground enemies are different).
We proposed dividing the acoustic signals of chicks into 3 categories (Tikhonov and Fokin, 1980).
1. Signals of a negative physiological and social state, including signals of “discomfort”, indicative and nutritional.
2. Signals of a positive physiological and social state, dividing them into signals of “comfort”, warming, saturation, group contacts, following, pre-sleep
condition.
3. Alarming and defensive signals (anxiety, distress, fear).
Such a fractional classification forms the basis for solving many problems of controlling the behavior of birds in game breeding. Knowing the basic functional meaning of a signal characterized by certain physical parameters, one can pose the inverse problem, studying the influence of this signal on the behavior of birds.
The bird makes its first sound signals while still in the egg, 1-2 days before the shell hatches. In the auditory analyzer of chicks, first of all, those nerve cells that are “tuned” to the species-specific frequency of the female’s voice mature (Anokhin, 1969). Sound communication between the female and the chicks is established already at the end of incubation (Tikhonov, 1977). Indirect learning in brood birds, including signal succession and group learning (Manteuffel, 1980), plays an important role in the ethological preparation of young birds for independent life. Of particular importance is the acoustic behavior of parents as a factor in stimulating and polishing the behavior and communication of young birds in the brood (Simkin, 1972).
In artificial game breeding, humans deprive the chicks of contact with the female. Incubation of eggs, enclosure and cage rearing of young animals without brood hens leads not only to the impossibility of developing adaptive behavioral reactions that are formed in nature on the basis of individual and group experience, but also to the extinction of some important innate behavioral acts, in particular anxiety reactions. Our experiments on mallard ducklings showed that the innate reaction of flight in chicks to alarming signals from the female is most clearly manifested on days 2-3 and, without visual reinforcement, fades away already on the fifth day. Fixed by special “scare sessions” (loud screams, shots, sirens, special scaring by people), the alarming reaction persists until release into the wild. Subsequently, it becomes an integral component of the behavior of released birds.
However, the use of special “scares” is not the main factor in the formation of a “wild” behavioral stereotype in birds raised in captivity. As is known, birds raised in constant contact with humans differ sharply in behavior from their wild relatives. Such birds do not have directed alarm-defensive reactions to predators, which makes them easy prey for both ground and air enemies. Hunting for birds that are not afraid of humans loses its sporting interest and even becomes inhumane.
The main factor in birds becoming accustomed to humans is the effect of imprinting (imprinting) the appearance and voice of a person on the chicks during the “sensitive” period, limited to the first 2-3 days of life. In the future, the positive reaction to humans is further enhanced due to the formation of conditioned reflex reactions in the process of feeding and constant communication with birds. Imprinting is an extremely persistent and practically irreversible process. Therefore, in our opinion, when artificially breeding game, it is necessary to prevent human imprinting on chicks in the “sensitive” period. We conducted a series of experiments consisting of isolating small ducklings from humans at different periods. The experimental cages with houses were covered on all sides with dense material, and the top remained open. During feeding and changing water, the chicks saw only the hands of the person serving them, and in the process of giving food they always ran into the house. Ducklings isolated from humans for a “sensitive” period subsequently got used to them, but on the basis of conditioned reflex reactions. Special methods of “scare” after releasing them into the grounds (shots from guns, etc.) contributed to the disruption of these positive conditioned reactions: the ducks began to be afraid of people. And yet, their flight reaction in response to the appearance of a person was more sluggish than that of their wild relatives. At the same time, ducklings raised in the usual way reacted indifferently to the appearance of people.
The best option turned out to be keeping the ducklings in isolation from humans for the entire time, right up to their release onto the land, i.e. up to 25-30 days. Such ducks were practically no different in behavior from wild ones: they flew away when a person approached, they were afraid of unfamiliar objects, air and ground enemies, and even “peaceful” birds. Hunting such game was practically no different from hunting wild birds.
Currently, our main task is to search for the technical implementation of this method of raising young game birds, taking into account the specific design of game farms. Obviously, you need to start with strict adherence to the following requirements. During the hatching period, complete silence must be maintained in the incubator to avoid the chicks imprinting human voices. For the first 5-7 days, the hatched chicks are transferred to brooder cages, closed on all sides with dense material, which should be folded back at the door when feeding and changing water. Then the young animals are transferred to enclosures with walls covered with plywood or roofing felt and raised for up to 25-30 days. During the growing process, it is very effective to carry out 4-5 “scares” after releasing the young animals onto the land. On the second day after release (but not on the day of release), several people come to the place where the released game is kept and fire several blank shots, achieving a flight reaction in the birds. Birds that have been isolated from people for a “sensitive” period, unlike those raised in constant contact with humans, are afraid of gunshots. The combination of a shot and the appearance of a hunter produces a negative reaction in birds towards humans. Already 3-4 days after regular scares, the mere appearance of a person, for example, near a pond, causes the flight of young ducks, who try to hide in the thickets.
Ducks released at a later age are more difficult to run wild, and if in the first days of life the chicks were not isolated from people, then such birds, as a rule, practically do not react to shots. Wilding goes faster if the birds have seen the death of their fellow bird several times after the shot (Ilyichev, Vilke, 1978). You can teach birds to avoid people using the principle of combined repellents - that is, use not only the direct cries of people, gunshots, but also recordings of various sounds - cries of distress, alarms, a sharp take-off of a flock of birds, high-intensity sounds (up to 120 dB), ultrasounds (up to 40 dB). kHz) (Tikhonov, 1977). However, our hunting farms are not yet equipped with special equipment for using these methods and it is not worth dwelling on them yet.
In the practice of game breeding, there is a need to collect chicks in a certain place. During the sudden onset of bad weather, small chicks hide in open enclosures at night and may die from hypothermia. The maintenance staff of game nurseries is forced to drive them into shelters. Sometimes it becomes necessary to transfer young animals from one room to another, collect them in a certain place for weighing, dividing into groups, etc. Such work can be facilitated by using acoustic attractants - sound attractants. The following reaction of a single chick has been studied quite fully, but in game breeding we are dealing with large groups of chicks, and practically no experiments have been carried out to study the following reaction of a group of chicks.
Chicks of brood birds are characterized by an approach reaction in response to the calling signals of the female or her imitators - monotonous signals (Malchevsky, 1974). Single chicks were offered recordings of sound signals of varying functional significance. They responded with an approach reaction to juvenile comfort signals and female calling signals. The use of these two signals and their monofrequency imitators as attractants for a group of chicks was initially unsuccessful. In our opinion, the lack of reaction in a group of chicks approaching the sound source is due to two reasons. Firstly, the level of motivation of the chicks plays a decisive role in stimulating this reaction. A chick, isolated from its brethren, experiences constant discomfort, which prompts it to react closer to certain sound signals. And in our experiments, the chicks were in comfortable conditions - they were close to their brothers. In nature, comfortable conditions for chicks are created by the female, and in artificial conditions - by humans. The chicks imprint only on each other and people; the need for constant contact with the female disappears. Naturally, in artificially created comfortable conditions, the chicks will not have an approach reaction, since sound signals alone are not enough, and they do not have the corresponding internal factors (state of discomfort). Second, as shown by Gottlieb (1977), an acoustic-visual stimulus evokes a more powerful pursuit response than an acoustic stimulus alone. In nature, birds following their mother are guided by both her appearance and her voice. In artificial conditions, the chicks “do not know” the female, and the object of their imprinting may be the first moving sounding object seen in life.
It follows that the motor reactions of chicks can be controlled in two ways: either by using acoustic attractants in uncomfortable situations (cooling, hunger), or by using acoustic-visual attractants (moving sounding speakers), having previously ensured that the chicks imprint them. Our experiments fully confirmed this (Fokin, 1981). For example, small ducklings that did not respond to the reproduction of the duck’s calling quacks quickly gathered near the speaker after turning off the lighting and heating in the brooder; The baby pheasants actively followed a moving speaker through which recordings of their comfort calls were played.
With an increased density of chicks, an increase in their aggressiveness is observed, manifested in collisions at feeders and drinkers, pecking, and restlessness. This has a depressing effect on their growth and development. Industrial noise also has a negative impact on the life activity of birds (Rogozhina, 1971). Phelps (1970) found a calming effect of music on the behavior of laying hens, with an even greater effect when playing recordings of their comfort calls to the hens. As experiments on chickens (Ilyichev, Tikhonov, 1979) and quails (Fokin, 1981) showed, the use of monofrequency signals of the appropriate frequency led not only to “calming” the chicks, but also significantly increased their feeding activity. Feed consumption increased and daily weight gain increased sharply. Thus, the weight of experimental quail reached an average of 147.7 g by the age of two months, while control chicks of the same age reached only 119.6 g.
We also used comfort signals from chicks and females as stimulants. A good effect is achieved by periodically playing food sounds of non-vocal origin that accompany feeding (the beak striking the substrate, the alkalization of water, etc.).
Currently, intensive research is being conducted to develop optimal modes for stimulating young animals with sound signals. It is known that in spring current sounds stimulate the growth of the gonads of birds (Promptov, 1956). In addition, most species are characterized by the phenomenon of sound induction, the essence of which is that the specific mating song stimulates similar sound responses in males of the same species of birds (Malchevsky, 1982); Brockway (Brockway, 1965) notes that the vocalization of mating birds stimulates the oviposition process with signals.
Our experiments on stimulating mallard ducks, wood grouse, black grouse and chukars kept in the game nursery of the Central Scientific Research Laboratory with current sounds showed the large role of sound induction in the mating behavior of birds. In grouse and chukars, artificial sound induction disrupted the species-specific circadian rhythm of displaying, “forcing” them to display during the day, even in inclement weather. Playing recordings of the mating call of a male Japanese quail in a sparrowhawk led to an increase in the sound activity of all males: the number of mating calls emitted per hour by all males in the sparrowhawk increased by 1.8 - 2.0 times, and the number of matings also increased. Obviously, sound stimulation promotes increasing the egg production of birds. In any case, in our experiments, the total number of eggs laid in the first days of voicing increased by 36–47%. Then there was a drop in egg production, which can obviously be explained by the effect of birds becoming accustomed to constant external stimuli.
These areas do not limit the range of exploratory studies of the practical use of bioacoustics in game breeding. The distinctive features of the voices of domestic subspecies of the common pheasant are being studied, the role of sound reactions in the formation of pairs in geese and geese, which are characterized during the breeding season by so-called antiphonal duets, also characteristic of some cranes, owls and passerine birds, is clarified (Malchevsky, 1981). Methods of catching wild birds in nature using “acoustic traps” are being explored.
Express methods for determining sex by voice in day-old young game birds are being developed, and research is underway on acoustic stimulation and synchronization of hatching of chicks.
Literature
Anokhin P.K. Biology and neurophysiology of the conditioned reflex. - M.: Nauka, 1968.
Ilyichev V.D. Physical and functional characteristics of birds' voices. - Ornithology, 1968, issue. 9.
Ilyichev V.D. and others. Bioacoustics. - M.: Higher School, 1975.
Ilyichev V.D., Vilke E.K. Spatial orientation of birds. - M.: Nauka, 1978.
Ilyichev V.D., Tikhonov A.V. Biological basis for controlling bird behavior. I. Chicken. - Zool. zhurn., 1979, vol. VIII, - issue. 7.
Malchevsky A.S. On the types of sound communication of terrestrial vertebrates using the example of birds. - In: Animal Behavior. Mat. I All meeting on ecological and evolutionary aspects of animal behavior. M., Nauka, 1972.
Malchevsky A.S. Sound communication of birds and the experience of classifying the sounds they make. - Mat. VXAll. ornithol. conf., 1974, part I, M.
Malchevsky A.S. Ornithological excursions. - L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1981.
Manteuffel B.P. Ecology of animal behavior. - M.: Nauka, 1980.
Promptov A.N., Essays on the problem of biological adaptation of the behavior of passerine birds, - M.-L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1956.
Rogozhina V.I. The influence of a sound stimulus on the dynamics of nitrogen compounds and pyruvic acid in the blood and brain of chickens. - Mat. All meeting and conf. VNITIP USSR Ministry of Agriculture, 1971, issue. 4.
Simkin G.N. Acoustic relationships in birds. - Ornithology, 1972, issue. 10.
Simkin G.N. Acoustic alarm systems in birds. - Mat. VI Vses, ornithol. conf., 1974, part I, M.
Simkin G.N. Acoustic alarm systems in birds. -In: Adaptive features and evolution of birds. M., Nauka, 1977.
Simkin G.N. Experience in developing a functional classification of acoustic signals in birds. - Mat. II All. conf. on animal behavior. M., 1977.
Simkin G.N. Current problems in studying the sound communication of birds. - Ornithology, 1962, issue. 17.
Tikhonov A.V. Acoustic signaling and behavior of brood birds in early ontogenesis. - Author's abstract. Ph.D. dis. M., 1977.
Tikhonov A.V. Sound communication between embryos and the brooding female in brood birds. - Abstract of the report. VII All. ornithol. conf. Kyiv, 1977.
Tikhonov A.V., Fokin S.Yu. Acoustic signaling and behavior of waders in early ontogenesis. II. Signaling and behavior of chicks. - Biol. Sciences, I960, No. 10.
Tikhonov A.V., Fokin S.Yu. Acoustic signaling and behavior of waders during the nesting period. - Bull. MOIP, dept. Biol., 1981, No. 2.
Fokin S.Yu. The influence of acoustic stimulation on the feeding and aggressive behavior of young Japanese quail. - Tez. report XXIV Vses., conf. young scientists and graduate students in poultry farming. 1981.
Fokin S.Yu. Attractant reaction of chicks of brood birds and the possibility of its use in game breeding and poultry farming. - In: Ecology and conservation of birds. Abstract. report VIII All.ornithol. conf., 1981, Chisinau.
Brockway V. Stimulation of ovarian development and egg laying by male courtship vocalization in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). - Animal Behavior, 1965.
Gottlieb G. Neglected developmental variables in the study of species identification in birds. - Psychol. Bull,. 1973, 79, no. 6.
Phelps A. Piped music: good management or gemmick? -J. Poultry international, 1970, v. 9, №12.
Objective of the lesson: introduce students to a new science for them - bioacoustics; consider ways to reproduce sounds in the animal world; identify the feasibility of the structure of the hearing organs in various animals; repeat knowledge on the topic “Sound waves”.
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Municipal budgetary educational institution
"Evening (shift) secondary school No. 4"
Artemovsky urban district
Integrated lesson
(biology + physics)
on the topic “Sound signaling in the life of animals”
T.G. Selivanova, physics teacher
L.V. Otter, biology teacher
Artemovsky urban district
2013 – 2014 academic year year
Objective of the lesson: introduce students to a new science for them - bioacoustics; consider ways to reproduce sounds in the animal world; identify the feasibility of the structure of the hearing organs in various animals; repeat knowledge on the topic “Sound waves”.
Equipment: tape recorder, recording the voices of various animals, a poster “Structure of the ear”, photographs of animals. Sound generator, tuning fork, hammer.
Preparation for the lesson:The topic of the lesson, lesson plan, statements - epigraphs for the lesson are written on the board.
“Comprehension of animal language is a dream as old as humanity itself”
C. Fabry
“The task of conserving animals requires understanding them”
N. Tinbergen
Lesson plan:
- Introduction
- Practical work “The meaning of sound alarms”
- History of bioacoustics
- Sound and its characteristics
- Who says what?
- Who can hear?
- Conclusion from the lesson.
Lesson progress
1. Introductory speech by the teacher.
(Physics teacher) The topic of today's lesson is “Sound signaling in the life of animals.” The lesson is integrated, because today we will talk about bioacoustics, and this is a complex science that combines knowledge of biology and physics. We will work according to the plan given on the board.
In fairy tales, animals talk. Just remember “Mowgli” by Kipling or “The Tale of the Goldfish” by Pushkin. And it doesn’t seem strange to kids that a goldfish, fox, bear or frog can talk. In fairy tales, man himself talks to animals. This reveals the age-old dream of man to learn to understand the language of animals.
The reason for these dreams is clear. For a million years, man has been in very close contact with animals; his dependence on them is too great: after all, animals are tasty and nutritious food, clothing, and all kinds of household items, and finally, animals are also mortal enemies.
To track and kill an animal while hunting, to avoid its fangs, to make animals into helpers by taming them - all this requires a deep understanding of animal behavior.
Today, when civilization increasingly separates us from living nature, when “there is less and less nature, and more and more environment,” we somehow especially begin to feel its lack, we strive to study the signs of living things.
For a long time, biologists wrote the term “animal language” in quotation marks, but now they have recognized the legitimacy of this concept to denote the ability of animals to communicate with each other.
Animal language is a complex concept. The language of postures and body movements plays an important role in the exchange of information between animals. Remember the grinning mouth of a predator or, conversely, the mating dance of a crane. The language of smells is also important for them. But sound language has a very special meaning for animals, because it allows animals to communicate without seeing each other (for example, in complete darkness) and at a long distance.
The sound is also a “long-range weapon.” The cries of corvids can be heard a kilometer away, crocodiles can hear each other at a distance of 1.5 km, lions - 2.5 km. But the distance record was set by humpback whales: they can hear each other at a distance of several hundred miles.
2. “Meaning of the sound alarm.” Practical work with the design of a table in a notebook.
(Biology teacher)And now we invite you to listen to the voices of animals recorded in different parts of our planet. Maybe you recognize someone? And think about how important beeps can be. (Recording sounds) The results of the work are presented in the table:
Conclusion: So let's summarize. Significance of sound alarm for animals:
1. Intraspecific communication:
a) between representatives of different sexes of the same species during the breeding season (searching for a sexual partner or fighting with a rival for the opportunity to mate);
b) caring for offspring (search for food, danger signals);
Example with chickens: The chicken communicates with its offspring mainly using sound signals. For example, in one experiment it was found that a hen would not come to the aid of a chick in difficulty if it was under a soundproof glass cover. Both chicks and adult birds produce about 20 different sound signals and can use sounds to express pleasure, fear, fright, threat, and triumph. Moreover, out of 20 signals used by chickens, 7 signals clarify the nature of the danger.
c) social animals have a joint search for food, collective defense;
d) marking the territory.
2. Interspecies communication:
a) gives victims the opportunity to avoid an attack by a predator, and allows the predator to detect it;
b) interaction between competing species.
3. History of bioacoustics
(Biology teacher tells)Two and a half thousand years ago, the Greek thinker and mathematician Pythagoras (you know his theorem) began the world's first acoustic experiments. Pythagoras died. Century after century passed, and the science of sound, which he laid the foundation for, stopped. Not a single experiment was carried out until 1638, when Galileo Galilei continued the work of Pythagoras. And then the nineteenth century arrived. Classic works on acoustics by the German scientist Hermann Helmholtz are published.
It is unlikely that there are many sciences in the world that could boast of their day and place of birth. The origins of most sciences are lost in the mists of time. Another thing is bioacoustics. We can say for sure that she was born in 1956 in Pennsylvania (USA), where scientists from different countries gathered for the first bioacoustics congress, where an official passport was issued for this new science.
Today we are talking about bioacoustics, and this is a complex science that combines knowledge of biology and physics. Acoustics is the science of sounds, and bioacoustics studies all kinds of natural methods of sound communication between living beings. Bioacoustics interests and unites not only biologists and physicists, but also linguists, psychologists, engineers and many other specialists.
The audio libraries of many research centers on bioacoustics contain tens of thousands of recordings of the voices of different animals. Collecting animal voices is of great scientific and practical importance. For example, many birds and insects, although indistinguishable in appearance, are clearly distinguishable by their voices, and on this basis they can be distinguished as independent biological species.
By broadcasting calling signals, you can lure fish or insects into traps, and if you turn on threat signals, you can scare away animals from unwanted places where they are present.
For example: in the north, bears often visit villages to rummage through garbage heaps in search of food. To get rid of the uninvited guests, the ferocious growl of two fighting bears was recorded on a tape recorder and played through loudspeakers in one of the villages. The impudent guests retreated in fear and forgot the way there for a long time.
The ability of birds to respond to sounds is used to protect airfields. After all, the birds have become a real disaster for them. Birds often get caught in the air intakes of jet aircraft engines, hitting windshields and causing accidents. Therefore, they are trying to drive them out of the airfields by any means. The easiest way to do this is to turn on the alarm signals of the birds themselves, recorded on tape. True, we must take into account that in different places birds “speak” different “languages and dialects.” There is a known case when the alarm calls of French crows were recorded on film and given to American ones to listen to. However, they did not understand the cries of their overseas relatives and did not respond to them.[ 1]
4. Sound and its characteristics
(Physics teacher) Living organisms are capable of producing a wide variety of sounds that are different from each other. Let's remember from physics lessons what sound is, and how can sounds differ from each other? (frontal conversation-survey with students)
Question: What is sound?
Answer: Sound is elastic waves of compression and rarefaction propagating in a solid, liquid, or gaseous medium.
Those. sound is an ordinary mechanical wave, which represents alternating areas of condensation and rarefaction.
But each sound has its own characteristics, i.e. its characteristics.
Question: What sound characteristics do you know?
Answer: Pitch, volume, timbre.
Question: What is pitch or tone of sound?
Answer: This is a characteristic that is determined by the frequency of vibrations in a sound wave. Higher frequencies correspond to high sounds, lower frequencies correspond to low sounds.
Question: What frequency sounds does a person perceive?
Answer: From 20 to 20,000 Hz (an experiment is being conducted with a sound generator)
Question: What sounds are beyond these limits?
Answer: Infrasounds (frequency less than 20 Hz) and ultrasounds (frequency more than 20 kHz)
Question: What is sound volume?
Answer: This is a characteristic that is determined by the amplitude of vibrations in a sound wave. The greater the amplitude, the greater the volume.
Question: In what units is it measured?
Answer: Measured in dB.
Question: What characteristic is called timbre?
Answer: The coloration of sound resulting from the superposition of several overtones.
It is thanks to timbre that we can distinguish the sounds of different musical instruments, the voices of different people, animals, birds.
One of the characteristics of any wave is its propagation speed.
Question: What can you say about this characteristic? What does it depend on?
Answer: The speed of sound varies in different media. More in solids, less in gases, because the interaction of particles in a gaseous substance is the weakest.
It is no coincidence that in ancient times, warriors put their ears to the ground and thus detected the enemy’s cavalry much earlier than it appeared in sight. Because Sound travels faster in a solid body - the earth - than in air.
To summarize all of the above, it can be noted that all the variety of sounds is explained by their different characteristics.
5. Who says what?
(Physics teacher) Sound is of no small importance in the life of animals. It is a means of transmitting information. Animals are capable of making sounds, for example, humans can speak. How does sound arise? Let's turn to experience. We hit the legs of the tuning fork with a hammer and hear the sound. Why does sound occur?
Answer: When you hit the legs of a tuning fork with a hammer, they begin to vibrate, which causes air vibrations that spread in space, i.e. a sound wave arises.
This means that the source of sound is a vibrating body.
Why do they use a stand in the form of a wooden box in the experiment?
Answer: To enhance the sound. It is selected in such a way that its natural frequency of vibration is equal to the frequency of the tuning fork sound, i.e. so that the phenomenon of resonance is observed, due to which the amplitude of vibrations increases, and we hear a louder sound.
The stand itself is called a resonator.
How do animals make sounds? Let's consider this issue using the example of a person. (biology teacher's story about vocal cords).
What other ways do animals create sounds? (student’s message) In your notebook as you report, mark the name of the animal and “what it says”:
Animal name | Organs that produce sounds |
Report “How do animals produce sounds?”
(The report is accompanied by a display of photographs of the relevant animals)
Like humans, all mammals have an organ specifically designed to create sound vibrations, the larynx. The parts that make it up are bizarre. The thyroid cartilage resembles an open book, the spine of which stands vertically. What the cricoid cartilage looks like is clear from its name, and the arytenoid cartilages are triangular pyramids. Just between these pyramids and the thyroid cartilage are the vocal cords - elastic folds of the mucous membrane. Many animal sounds depend on breathing, and in almost all animals they arise when air escapes from the lungs. It is they who cause the vocal cords of the larynx to vibrate, and they produce a weak sound, and the oral cavity plays the role of a resonator, amplifying the sound. If the air leaves the lungs more or less smoothly, it will result in a howl. In some animals, sounds can be formed both during inhalation and exhalation (for example, deer and donkey). The tiger and the rest of his brothers snort when they are friendly. And they snort in a peculiar way: they manage to make two different sounds, because at this moment they use not only the larynx, but also the nose. And dogs, platypuses and wombats inhale and exhale air through their noses in such a way that they whistle. Dolphins can also whistle. They can also click. Moreover, air is not needed here, since the source of sounds is not the vibration of the vocal cords, but the vibration of the arytenoid cartilages, controlled by the muscles of the larynx. This is easy to do yourself (offer to try).
The larynx of birds is similar to the larynx of mammals, but birds do not use it much. It is called the “upper larynx.” Why the top one? Yes, because there is also an inferior or syrinx. The syrinx is a special organ. Only birds have it. Deep in the chest, where the trachea divides into the bronchi, there is a chamber. If you look inside this chamber, you will see vocal membranes in each bronchus. Although the anatomy of the syrinx is very well studied, it is such a complex system that there is still no single theory explaining how sounds are produced in birds. The speed with which birds produce their sounds is extraordinary. The garden warbler manages to sing 250 sounds in 1 minute, and the marsh warbler sings exactly twice as much.
However, is it always necessary to use the larynx to communicate something to each other? Not at all. And these special sounds, which arise without the participation of the larynx, are given a special name: “instrumental”. But the tools used by animals are very different. Owls click their beaks. Pigeons flap their wings, and ducks whistle with them. A Galapagos shepherdess stomps its paws. Cockroaches, hay eaters, ants knock with what: some with their heads, some with the tip of their abdomen, and some with their jaws. Termites, having discovered danger, unanimously hit their heads on the substrate (termite mound material), notifying all residents of the alarm. Guinea pigs and dormouse chatter their teeth. The grasshopper moves and spreads its wings so that the cord on one wing touches the file with ribs on the second wing. Some beetles (elephant beetles, water beetles, dung beetles) chirp by rubbing their abdomens on their elytra, and stag beetles make sounds with their elytra and thighs.
Having lowered the hydrophones into the water, the researchers discovered that “the fish are not dumb.” The gurnard, for example, “clucks and clucks.” Horse mackerel “barks.” The drummer fish makes sounds that really resemble a drumbeat, and the sea burbot purrs and “grunts” expressively. The sound power of some sea fish is so great that they caused explosions of acoustic mines, which became widespread during the Second World War, and were naturally intended to destroy enemy ships. One of the catfish living in the Amazon, the pirarara (not to be confused with the bloodthirsty piranha), reaches a meter in length and weighs up to 100 kilograms, makes trumpet sounds similar to the roar of an elephant and can be heard at a distance of up to 100 meters. These sounds are made by the catfish by pushing a mixture of water and air through tightly closed gill slits and most likely serve to scare away predators. The haraki, the main commercial fish of the Amazon, uses its swim bladder to make a loud sound, reminiscent of a motorcycle, during spawning. You can imagine hundreds of male harakas starting their motorcycles during spawning. Scientists see the reasons for the abundance and diversity of “singing fish” in the Amazon in the fact that the waters of this river are very muddy due to the admixture of limestone and humus. Visual communication between fish is almost impossible, so nature has taken the path of developing a variety of acoustic signaling. [ 2]
6. Who hears what?
(Physics teacher) To communicate, animals must not only make sounds, but also receive them, i.e. hear. The sound receiver is the ear. Animals hear because their ears respond to sound waves. Let's look at the structure of the mammalian ear using the human ear as an example. (story based on the table “Internal structure of the ear”) The ear can be divided into three parts: outer, middle, inner. The outer ear consists of the pinna and the auditory canal. Middle ear: This is where the eardrum and three characteristically shaped bones are located: the malleus, the incus and the stapes. In addition, the middle ear is connected to the nose by a narrow tube, which is necessary to equalize the air pressure in the middle ear with respect to the external environment. The inner ear contains three fluid-filled tubes (semicircular canals) that belong to the vestibular system, the cochlea, a miniature spiral tube, and the auditory nerve.
So, the auricle receives the sound wave. Moreover, the surface area of the auricle is of no small importance. Let's conduct an experiment: put our hand to the shell of the ear and listen. Audibility increases. The larger the surface area, the greater the proportion of sound waves we perceive.
Next, the ear canal directs the wave to the eardrum. The eardrum begins to vibrate under the influence of a sound wave, and these vibrations are transmitted to the malleus, incus and stapes, which act like small levers, increasing the vibrations. The bones are connected to a cochlea filled with a special fluid, and the transmitted vibrations cause the fluid to move back and forth in time with the vibrations in the sound wave. In this case, the sensitive hair cells located inside the cochlea are deformed and send an electrical signal through the auditory nerve to the brain. The brain deciphers the signals and perceives them as sounds.
Why does a person need two ears? It turns out that thanks to this we can determine where the source of the sound is. The ear closest to the source hears it a little louder and a little earlier than the other ear. It is these two sounds that make it possible to determine where the sound comes from.
If the source is strictly in front of you, then the sound reaches each ear at the same time, and we will not be able to determine the desired direction. This means that if we want to determine where the sound is coming from, we must not turn toward the sound, but, on the contrary, turn away from it.
The ear is designed in such a way that it reacts differently to loud and quiet sounds. The smallest pressure to which the ear responds is called the hearing threshold. Each organism has its own. For example, a person is able to hear such weak sounds as the rustling of leaves 10 dB or the ticking of a clock at a distance of 1 m - 30 dB.
In the case of loud sounds, two muscles of the middle ear and eardrum contract additionally, the malleus, incus and stirrup vibrate with a smaller amplitude. At the same time, the pressure transmitted to the inner ear - the cochlea - decreases. But too loud sounds are harmful to hearing, and sounds equal to 140 dB cause pain, and sounds equal to 160 dB cause destruction of the eardrum. How to protect your hearing: close your ears and open your mouth.
Despite the fundamental similarity in structure, the ears of different mammals have their own characteristics. Individual characteristics of the hearing organs allow different animals to perceive different sounds. Thus, a person hears sounds from 20 to 20,000 Hz, and the limits of audibility change with age. Children are able to hear up to 40 kHz, i.e. ultrasound. With age, this ability decreases. It has been established that after 40 years, for five years in a row, every six months, the upper limit of the frequency scale drops by 80 Hz.
Many animals perceive ultrasound throughout their lives, for example, dogs - up to 60 kHz; foxes up to 65 kHz; bats up to 250 kHz, cetaceans also communicate using ultrasound. And some marine animals (squid, cuttlefish, octopuses) perceive infrasound.
(Biology teacher)You know that animals live in different places. Depending on their habitat, their ears are designed differently. Let's try together with you, using the example of some animals, to explain the biological feasibility of the structure of their ears. I will name the animals, and you try to determine the biological feasibility of the structure of their ears:(discussion on questions is accompanied by showing photographs of relevant animals)
Question 1: Baleen whales, common dolphins, and moles do not have ears at all, why? Answer: In the water and land where these animals live, the pinna would only get in the way. To prevent soil from getting into the ear canal, the mole has a special valve that can open and close as needed.
Question 2: Nutria's ears are small, rounded, and their upper edge is turned towards the entrance hole; at the bottom of the ear there is a tuft of hard and long hair, why? Answer: Nutria lives in water and on land, so it must hear in both environments. A tuft of coarse hair prevents water from entering the ear canal.
Question 3: The African fennec fox itself is small (30-40cm), and its ears are up to 15cm. How can you explain this? Answer: The fennec cat's ears are not only a hearing organ, but also participate in thermoregulation. In animals of hot climates, all protruding parts of the body (ears, tail, limbs) are much longer than in related species in cold climates (Alain's rule). These structural features increase the total surface of the body, and, consequently, its heat transfer. The same can be said about the large ears of elephants, which, moreover, can perfectly ward off annoying insects.
7. Lesson summary.
(Students fail)So, let's summarize today's lesson. Sound signaling is of great importance in the life of animals. The study of sound signaling methods existing in nature between animals, that is, what bioacoustics does, is important for both scientific and practical human activity.
References
Morozov V.P. Interesting bioacoustics. Ed. 2nd, additional, reworked – M.: Knowledge, 1987.
Stishkovskaya L.L. And the goldfish said. Scientific and fiction literature/Artist V. Levinson. – M.: Det.lit., 1989.
CD. 1C: School. Biology (man and his health), 9th grade. Publishing center “Ventana-Graf”, textbook text with illustrations, 2006.
CD. 1C: School. Biology (animals), 7th grade. Publishing center “Ventana-Graf”, textbook text with illustrations, 2006.
The patterns of vocal production and sound communication in birds are one of the most important areas in modern ornithological bioacoustics. The study of the functional physiology of the vocal apparatus of birds is associated with great difficulties, mainly due to the variety of morphological types of the lower larynx in various systematic groups of the class (Teresa, 1930; Ames, 1971). Recently, the most promising method for studying vocal production is the analysis, using special radio-electronic equipment, of the acoustic structure of the sounds emitted by birds. The use of this method in relation to early ontogenesis makes it possible to identify age-related patterns of voice in birds.
The formation of acoustic signaling in birds during embryogenesis is extremely poorly covered in the literature. The researchers focused on "clicking" sounds of embryos, as most easily recorded just before hatching.
Sound communication, being a reliable communication mechanism, is widely used by brood birds, in which the development of the downy system in embryogenesis proceeds at a faster pace than the development of vision. The microphone potential of the cochlea of a chick embryo in response to low-frequency sounds is recorded on the 11th day of incubation, and the electrical activity of the retina is recorded only on the 18th day.
The establishment of mutual communication is facilitated by the heterochronic development of the auditory analyzer of embryos. It provides maximum auditory sensitivity before hatching in frequency ranges corresponding to the main energy maxima in the sound signals of the parents and its own vocalizations. Acoustic afferentation at certain stages of early ontogenesis has a direct impact on the development of hearing and accelerates the process of mastering the high-frequency range characteristic of the embryo’s own vocalization. The range of perceived frequencies of chicks in both brood and half-brood birds coincides with the spectral characteristics of the species-specific signals of adult birds that are effective for the corresponding forms of behavior, which has important adaptive significance. It consists in the fact that species-specific sound signaling between embryos and adult birds ensures the synchronization of hatching of the brood and maintaining the stability of its subsequent existence.
The development of acoustic signaling in birds in prenatal ontogenesis is mediated by the formation of pulmonary respiration. The first sound signals of embryos are formed even before they exit into the air chamber of the egg. In terms of the time of appearance, they correspond to “spontaneous” breathing, which is carried out due to the air of the amnion cavity. During the same period, a mutual acoustic connection between the embryos and the brooding bird is established. This phenomenon has been noted in waders, such as the godwit, gallinaceae and lamellar-billed birds.
The onset of functioning of sound-producing systems varies significantly among representatives of different systematic groups. The first sound signals of embryos are single squeaks, separated by long time intervals - up to 30-60 minutes. After the embryo enters the air chamber of the egg, its sound activity increases sharply, which indicates the appearance of true pulmonary respiration. The intensity of the squeaks increases, they can be heard even without opening the shell of the egg, but they are still separated by long pauses - 20-40 minutes. Hatching - the appearance of the first cracks on the shell - is accompanied by the grouping of individual squeaks in a series of 2-3 impulses. The motor activity of embryos at this stage of development is accompanied by intense squeaks; the frequency of their radiation increases significantly with sudden movements and vibration of the eggs.
Duration paranatal period (from pecking of the shell to hatching) correlate in birds with the total duration of the incubation period. Noteworthy is the short paranatal period in rhea And grebes. This paradox is related to the nesting ecology of the species. Reducing the duration of the paranatal period in rheas to a minimum is a kind of adaptation of embryogenesis to arid conditions. Pecking of the shell membrane by the embryo before hatching leads to intense evaporation of moisture, which during a long paranatal period of development in savannah and semi-desert conditions can reach a critical value and lead to the death of the clutch. In the nests of grebes, on the contrary, high humidity is noted, due to the well-known features of their “floating” structure. Prolonged stay of embryos at the stage of shell pipping in conditions of high (excessive) humidity can also be detrimental for them. In this regard, despite the early activation of the sound-producing system of the embryos, the duration of the paranatal development of the great grebe is reduced to a minimum.
“Clicking” sounds occupy a special position during the development of voice in birds. They accompany pulmonary respiration and are characteristic of embryos. There is an opinion that “clicking” sounds arise as a result of mobility of the cartilage of the trachea, bronchi or larynx. As studies have shown, “clicks” are the second type of sound signals in chronological order during the development of voice in birds during embryogenesis. The first “clicks” - irregular and low-intensity - are recorded in embryos several hours before the shell pecks. Their rhythm does not exceed 10 per minute. Series, including from 10 to 50 pulses, alternate with pauses lasting up to 5-15 minutes.
Pecking of the shell and subsequent stabilization of pulmonary respiration lead to the formation of regular and more intense “clicking” activity in the embryos. Since “clicking sounds accompany respiratory acts, their rhythm increases until hatching, being an indicator of the development and stabilization of breathing. According to spectral and temporal parameters, they are short (10-30 ms), rhythmic broadband impulses. No species-specific characteristics of “clicking” sounds were found. The rhythm of “clicks”, in addition to the age characteristics of the embryos, is directly dependent on the external temperature, which is caused by the intensification of respiratory movements. In brood and semi-brood birds, “clicking” sounds serve as the basis for acoustic stimulation of embryos, leading to acceleration of embryonic development and synchronization of the hatching of chicks in a clutch.
The transition of embryos to breathing atmospheric air is accompanied by a rhythmic organization of emitted sound signals. Certain categories of them (signals of “discomfort”, “comfort”) have functional significance in the process of sound communication between embryos and brooding birds. In a number of groups, pecking of the shell membrane and stabilization of pulmonary respiration of embryos sharply change the spectral structure of the emitted signals. In general, the transition to the emission of “noise” or broadband signals, which have practically no pronounced frequency modulation, occurs in birds with a “primitive” type of structure of the lower larynx. Primitive type of structure of the lower larynx characterized by one pair of muscles, and in some species of ankle (storks) and ratite birds (emu, rhea, African ostrich) and it undergoes significant reduction. The developed lower larynx (for example, in song passerines) determines the complexity of the vocal muscles (8-12 pairs); it is characterized by a strong modification of the ossifying tracheal rings.
The structural and dynamic organization of signals is also different. Embryos of thick-billed guillemots are capable of emitting both individual impulses and trilling signals. The trill structure of signals is not typical for the prenatal ontogeny of slender-billed guillemots. Such an early and strong difference in the acoustic signaling systems of closely related guillemot species is apparently due to their joint nesting in colonies. In guillemot breeding colonies, not only interspecific recognition, but also individual recognition within families reaches a high level.
The maturity and complexity of the acoustic signaling system in birds at the time of hatching is determined by the type of development and the species' ecological characteristics. In the prenatal ontogenesis of brood and semi-brood birds, all the main categories of signals are formed: sounds of “discomfort”, “comfort”, “begging for food”, etc. Only alarm signals are not recorded in embryos.
Fulmar embryos (Fulmarus glaclalis) and skuas (family Stercorariidae) at pre-hatching stages are capable of producing all the sound signals characteristic of adult birds. A comparative analysis of the juvenile and definitive acoustic signaling systems in these species indicates that age-related changes are expressed mainly in the expansion of spectral boundaries and an increase in the duration of signals. The structural organization of sound signals in embryos and adult birds is almost identical. Thus, in tubenoses and skuas, the type of development of the acoustic signaling system is strictly determined. All categories of sound signals are formed in prenatal ontogenesis and, according to their structural organization, are like copies of definitive signals. There is no further functional differentiation and structural complication of signals.
Before hatching, embryos actively respond with signals of “discomfort” to certain external influences: cooling, sudden egg turning, shaking, etc. The number of pulses in a series and the rhythm of their emission are not strictly fixed and are apparently determined by the physiological state of the embryos and external factors . “Comfort” signals are easily distinguishable by ear from “discomfort” signals and are perceived as quiet chirping or whistling. The intensity of their emission by embryos is much lower than that of “discomfort” signals. “Comfort” signals are usually recorded at the end of “outbursts” of motor activity in embryos, during warming of chilled eggs, and their vibration.
One of the varieties of “comfort” sounds includes “comfortable” trills. Trills are produced by embryos at stages directly pre-hatching. Trills usually follow V at the end of a series of “comfortable” sounds and complete it. Embryos of lamellar beaks, chickens, rails and some other species of birds are characterized by “sleepy” trills as one of the variants of trill sounds. They differ from ordinary “comfortable” trills in their spectral narrowband and shorter pulse duration. “Sleepy” trills are common when chilled eggs are warmed; the motor activity of the embryos in this case is significantly reduced.
Immediately before hatching, the embryos “cut” the shell of the egg: this process is accompanied by specific "instrumental" sounds, which arise when the egg “tooth” rubs against the shell. The intensity of these sounds is extremely low.
The chicks emerging from the shell are accompanied by “hatching” signals.. Their radiation is caused by painful sensations, since at this moment the chicks’ umbilical “stalk” breaks. According to the spectral-temporal parameters, the “hatching” signals are close to the sounds of “discomfort”
Sound signaling at the pre-hatching stages in brooding and semi-brooding birds ensures communication between the embryos in the clutch, on the one hand, and between the embryos and the brooding bird, on the other. Sound communication during this period coordinates the behavior of the embryos and leads to the establishment of primary acoustic contact with the parents, on the basis of which, after hatching, a stable connection between the adult bird and the brood is formed. The rhythm of “discomfort” signals in embryos increases when the bird leaves the nest. In this case, they stimulate the return of the brooding bird. Magnetic recording of sounds made by embryos during natural incubation has revealed some features of their sound communication with the brooding bird. Thus, the emission of alarm signals by a brood hen led to the cessation of the sound activity of the embryos. The departure of the hen from the nest caused intense signals of “discomfort” in the embryos after 5-8 minutes, and the return of the bird and its calling sounds activated the “comfortable” feeling. « alarm Playing sounds of “discomfort” for the hen using a tape recorder led to her actively emitting calling signals, moving to the nest and tapping the eggshells with her beak. The embryos' "comfort" signal did not cause any significant changes in her behavior.
Thus, formation of basic types of acoustic signals is completed before hatching, which subsequently ensures successful acoustic orientation of the entire brood. The transition from the acoustic perception of the external environment, characteristic of embryos, to the perception of complex afferentation after hatching is accompanied in chicks by the further development of signaling. New categories of acoustic signals appear that have not been observed in embryos: indicative alarming and alarming-defensive. Along with this, the signals of “discomfort” and “comfort” further develop.
Ecology lesson in 5th grade on the topic "Sound signals in animals and their role in animal behavior"
Goals:
Educational: development of cognitive interest and respect for nature, observation, sustained attention, creative activity, independence, ability to compare, draw conclusions
Educational: formation of concepts about sound signals in animals, the ability to distinguish between them.
Educational: show the connection between animals with the help of sound signals, instill a caring attitude towards nature, the development of a love of beauty, a sense of harmony and beauty.
Equipment: computer, multimedia installation, presentation, pictures of animals, textbook, workbook.
Lesson progress
1. Organizational moment.
Hello guys! I'm very glad to see you. Look at each other, smile. I wish you a good mood throughout the lesson.
2. Test of knowledge.
Frontal conversation. (The conversation is conducted on the textbook questions at the end of paragraph 46)
Written survey (Complete task 138 in workbooks)
3. Studying new material.
Students report on sound signals in animals.
Teacher's story.
The connection between man and the animal world has always been complex and included two extremes - hunting for animals and love for them. All this led to the fact that man began to train animals and even teach them oral speech. In the course of the joint evolutionary development of humans and animals, talking animals appeared, despite large anatomical differences. It seems that as our knowledge of animal behavior increases, the differences between humans and animals begin to shrink. However, some abilities that humans possess are very difficult to detect in animals. One of these abilities is language.
It seems to us that the presence of language is a unique property of a person.
Animals have their own “language”, their own system of signals, with the help of which they communicate with relatives in natural habitats. It seemed that it was quite complex, consisting of different methods of communication - sounds, smells, body movements and postures, gestures, etc.
Animal language
Sound language is important for animals. People have long believed that every species of animal that exists on Earth has its own language. Using it, birds chatter restlessly or fly away when they hear a signal of danger and alarm.
Animals have their own “language” that expresses their state. The roar of a lion can be heard throughout the entire area - with this the king of beasts loudly declares his presence.
What are the natural sounds made by animals? These are signals expressing their state, desires, feelings - rage, anxiety, love. But this is not a language in our understanding and, of course, not speech. The famous zooethologist K. Lorenz notes: “...animals do not have language in the true sense of the word. The cries and sounds they make represent an innate signal code.” The ornithologist O. Heinroth points to this.
A person’s language is expressed through his spoken language and is determined by the richness of his vocabulary - for some people it is large and bright, for others it is simple. Something similar can be observed among birds and mammals: many of them have varied, polyphonic sounds, while others have rare and inexpressive sounds. By the way, there are completely mute birds - vultures; they never make a single sound. Signals and sounds in animals are one of the ways of communication between them. But they have different ways of transmitting information to each other. In addition to sounds, there is a peculiar “language” of gestures and postures, as well as a facial “language”. Everyone knows that the grin of an animal’s muzzle or the expressiveness of an animal’s eyes vary greatly depending on its mood - calm, aggressive or playful. At the same time, the tail of animals is a kind of expressive of their emotional state. The “language” of smells is widespread in the animal world; a lot of amazing things can be told about it. Animals of the cat, mustelid, canine and other families “mark” with their secretions the boundaries of the territory where they live. By smell, animals determine the readiness of individuals for mating, and also track prey, avoid enemies or dangerous places - traps, snares and snares. There are other channels of communication between animals and the environment, for example, electromagnetic location in the Nile elephant fish, ultrasonic echolocation in bats, high-frequency sound whistles in dolphins, infrasound signaling in elephants and whales, etc.
Research has amended the popular saying: “Mute as a fish.” It turned out that fish make many different sounds, using them to communicate in a school. If you listen to the sounds of fish using special sensitive instruments, you can clearly distinguish them by their “voices”. As American scientists have established, fish cough, sneeze and wheeze if the water does not meet the conditions in which they should be. The sounds produced by fish are sometimes similar to rumbling, squeaking, barking, croaking, and even grunting, and in the cinglossus fish they generally resemble the bass of an organ, the croaking of large toads, the ringing of bells and the sounds of a huge harp. But, unfortunately, in the entire history of mankind there has not been a single case of a fish speaking in a human voice.
Sound signaling exists in all types of animals. For example, chickens make 13 different sounds, tits - 90, rooks - 120, hoodies - up to 300, dolphins - 32, monkeys - more than 40, horses - about 100. Most zooethologists are convinced that they convey only the general emotional and mental state of animals . Some scientists think differently: in their opinion, different types of animals have their own language of communication. Thanks to him, detailed information about everything that happens to them is transmitted. I will give examples of the languages of some animals. Giraffes have long been considered mute animals. However, studies have shown that they communicate with each other using sounds that differ in frequency, duration and amplitude in the infrasound frequency range.
Monkey tongue
Many people like to watch the behavior of monkeys at the zoo (Fig. 3). And how much shouting, noise, energetic and expressive gestures there are in these “warm companies”! With their help, monkeys exchange information and communicate. Even a monkey dictionary was compiled; the first such dictionary-phrase book was compiled by a scientist in 1844 in Paris. It listed 11 signal words used by monkeys. For example, “keh” means “I’m better,” “okoko, okoko” means great fear, “gho” means greeting. It should be said that the famous scientist R. Garner devoted almost his entire life to studying the language of monkeys and came to the conclusion: monkeys truly speak their native language, which differs from humans only in the degree of complexity and development, but not in essence. Garner learned the language of monkeys so much that he could even communicate freely with them.
Dolphin tongue
Dolphins are of great interest to scientists for their good learning ability and the varied activities they exhibit when in contact with humans. Dolphins easily imitate various sounds and imitate human words. In the work of the famous dolphin researcher John Lily, an incident occurred when during an experiment one device broke down, but the tape recorder continued to work and recorded all subsequent sounds. At first, the dolphin could be heard reproducing the experimenter's voice, then the hum of the transformer and, finally, the noise of the film camera, that is, everything that happened around the animal and what it heard.
Scientists have discovered that dolphins have a wealth of sound signals and actively communicate with each other using a wide variety of sounds - frequent tonal whistles, sharp pulsating sounds - clicks. Dolphins have up to 32 different complex sound signals, and it is noted that each dolphin has its own characteristic whistle - “voice”. When alone or in a group, dolphins exchange signals, whistle again, make clicks, and when one dolphin gives a signal, the other is silent or whistles at that moment. When communicating with her calf, the female dolphin makes up to 800 different sounds.
Communication between dolphins occurs continuously even if they are separated, but can hear each other. For example, if you isolate dolphins and keep them in different pools, but establish radio communication between them, then they will mutually respond to the emitted signals of the “interlocutor”, even if they are separated by a distance of 8000 km. Are all the sounds dolphins make real spoken language or not? Some scientists believe that this has already been indisputably proven, others are more cautious about this possibility, believing that the sounds of dolphins reflect only their emotional state and express signals associated with searching for food, caring for offspring, protection, etc.
The “speech” of dolphins in the form of whistles, clicks, grunts, squeaks, and shrill screams is not a special coded communication system that would correspond to human speech. True, one analogy suggests the opposite idea: residents of villages in some mountainous places in the Pyrenees, Turkey, Mexico and the Canary Islands communicate with each other over long distances, up to 7 km, using a whistle. Dolphins have a whistling language that is used for communication and only needs to be deciphered.
A dog's life and language
It is known that dogs are the most popular among pets. The old concept of “a dog’s life” in the sense of hopelessness, life’s hardships and inconveniences is gradually taking on a completely different coloring.
significant differences in the structure of the brain and vocal apparatus.
The famous trainer V.L. Durov loved animals, studied their habits well, and perfectly mastered the skill of teaching and training animals. This is how he explained dog language. If a dog barks abruptly - “am!”, looking at a person and raising one ear at the same time, this means a question, bewilderment. When she raises her muzzle and utters a drawn-out “au-uh-uh...”, it means she is sad, but if she repeats “mm-mm-mm” several times, then she is asking for something. Well, a growl with the sound “rrrr...” is clear to everyone - it’s a threat.
I also conducted my own observations on my dog and came to the following conclusions:
The dog is angry - it barks and growls angrily, while baring its teeth and pressing itself to the ground. It is better not to approach such a dog.
The dog is scared - it tucks its tail and ears, tries to look small, and may even hug the ground and crawl away. Also, if the dog is nervous or afraid, it will not look you in the eyes. This is what a guilty puppy usually does.
Exercise : use sound signals to determine the name of the animal and write it down in your notebook.
4. Consolidation of knowledge.
Frontal conversation.
1.What are signals and sounds in animals?
2. Does sound signaling exist in all species of animals or not?
3. Is it possible to determine its behavior and desire by the sound signals of a dog? Give examples.
Homework assignment : Prepare answers to the questions at the end of the information on the handout.
In Nature, everything is interconnected and therefore the behavior of some individuals directly depends on the behavior of others. So, for example, a flock of waders that is feeding on the shallows will immediately take off if one sandpiper rises into the air. And, the warning cry of one of the geese of a large school will lead to the flight of all the birds. Also, the quack of a duck can attract a drake that flies past at a distance. It turns out that birds have their own language, with the help of which they communicate and understand each other. Continuing our series of articles about the life of birds (find out details about here), we invite you to talk about just this today...
The language of birds and its meaning for birds
It is fundamentally wrong to fall into anthropomorphism and try to humanize the language of animals. The mechanisms of communication in birds are different from communication between people. And we shouldn’t forget about this difference. Therefore, it would not be correct to think that a chicken that sees a flying goshawk makes threatening sounds because it wants to warn other chickens about the danger. Rather, her cry is an unconscious response, a natural reaction to the appearance of an enemy. A similar reaction triggers escape mechanisms in this bird. But other chickens, who do not see the hawk, but hear the chicken’s cry, still react to it and run away. Moreover, for them the irritant is not the hawk itself, but the behavior of the first hen and her cry.
It is noteworthy that, finding itself in such a situation, even a chicken that is completely alone will scream. It turns out that her behavior and screams are a manifestation of unconscious instincts? It is quite possible, and it is they who unconscious instincts are one of the most important biological adaptations that allow a species to quickly escape from enemies, find food, and generally coordinate the actions of its bird community or flock. This is precisely the important task of animal language, which provides all the main aspects and aspects of existence - the processes of nutrition, migration, reproduction...
Therefore, the very essence of the language of birds and animals can be explained very simply - this the reaction of one living organism to a stimulus that is understandable to another living organism. And it is the demonstration of such a stimulus that can cause a reaction in another animal. Thus, a connection and communication is formed between different animals of the same species. And the stimulus itself, which acts as a connecting link, serves only as a signal or trigger for such joint actions.
Types of bird sounds
At the same time, the signals that can be used by animals and birds to communicate with each other can be very different. These include trail marks, female scents, postures, and bright spots of color. And of course, the various sounds that birds make are of great importance in this general behavior. Thus, the quiet whistle of a hazel grouse (find out how to cook it deliciously - look for a recipe) can attract other hazel grouse, and the voice of a female quail causes a response in the males of this species. The squeak of grouse chicks, which run in thick and tall grass, allows their mother to find her brood, and the grouse do not get lost and run away.
Bird language tools
The sense organs that receive sound signals serve as channels through which communication between birds is directly carried out, and they are the main instruments of animal language. As a rule, those signals are usually used that are closely related to the sense organs and are most developed in this group of animals. For birds it is vision and hearing, but for mammals it is hearing and smell. At the same time, the nature of the connection itself must strictly correspond to the peculiarities of the biology of the species. So birds, as flying creatures and leading an open lifestyle, must be able to respond in a timely manner to extraneous stimuli that are located at a great distance from them, long before approaching such stimulus objects. Therefore, it is appropriate to consider that
The basis of communication between birds is precisely visual stimuli, which are supplemented by sound ones in situations where the possibility of visual perception is limited.
Mechanisms for producing sounds by birds
Birds have special mechanisms for producing sounds. They have an instrumental or mechanical voice that is closely related to structures that are found on the surface of the bird's body. Therefore, it is not surprising that the plumage of birds is often involved in the production of sound. Thus, snipe, well known to our hunters, are capable of causing sound vibrations with the help of their outer tail feathers, which are somewhat narrowed and look like hard fans. At the same time, the bleating of a snipe can be safely regarded as its mating. And, some ornithologists even believe that the rattling sounds that the snipe makes during its flight are caused not by its tail feathers, but by the feathers of its wings. Many chickens also have their own method of courtship between a male and a female. This is clearly seen in the example of domestic chickens. The rooster forcefully lowers its wings and runs its paw along the hard flight feathers, as a result of such actions a characteristic cracking sound occurs. The sharp and long growth that roosters have - it is called a spur - is also involved in the process of reproducing current sounds.
Science has also proven that the whistling sounds that occur during the flight of some ducks (they arise as a result of friction of air currents against the hard feathers of the duck) also have their own signal value. These sounds are clearly audible even at a distance, and the human ear is able to catch them at a distance of 30 meters or more. By the way, from such instrumental characteristic sounds a good hunter can easily distinguish which birds are flying.
Often in the spring in the forest you can hear a woodpecker drumming; it produces this sound with the help of frequent and strong blows with its hard beak on dry wood. A resonance occurs in a dry tree, and the sound intensifies and spreads far throughout the forest. In order to intensify such drumming, the woodpecker can specifically select individual sharp branches with a pointed top. The latter serve as a kind of natural device for recording and amplifying sound. It is also interesting that different species of woodpeckers drum at different frequencies, regardless of their gender. And, their fraction serves as a way for these birds to recognize each other.
The flapping of wings is also of great importance in signal language. It can be done both on the ground - when birds are mating, and in the air. Often, the knocking of beaks or legs can also cause responses in other birds. You can check this yourself. The chickens run when they hear a light tapping on the board, and they perceive this as a signal to get food. It is noteworthy that for adult chickens the meaning of this signal remains the same.
Voice of the birds
And although instrumental sounds can be found in many groups of birds, their importance is actually not that great. Still, the main load in birds is carried by their real voice, in other words, these are the sounds that birds produce with the help of their larynx. The sound spectrum of these sounds is quite large and several times greater than the spectrum of the human voice. So, for example, if you listen to the mating cry of a long-eared owl, it sounds at a frequency of 500 Hz, and the sounds that small passerines make include ultrasonic frequencies up to 48 thousand Hz, and naturally the human ear can no longer hear them.
Bird calls
The very set of bird sounds that a person can hear includes up to hundreds of cries, melodies, calls, stanzas, which differ in intensity, frequency, timbre, and so on. The American bird, close to our cranes, called the siriema, has the ability to reproduce up to 170 different sounds, however, songbirds have an even wider range of sound capabilities.
There are various life situations in which birds make certain identical sounds that are associated with feeding, feeding chicks, reproduction, nesting, mating, and so on. Thanks to the use of modern sound recording equipment and modern developed physiological methods, humans have a unique opportunity to finally decipher the semantic and biological meaning of some bird signals.
Dr. Skorpe and England spent a lot of time on this decoding, and he managed to find out that finches have 5 signals associated with information assessing the environment, 9 signals relate to relationships within the flock and the nesting period, 7 signals have an identification meaning and 7 relate to orientation in space. Well, the pied flycatcher has up to 15 signals deciphered by humans, while the common bunting has 14, the same number of signals were deciphered from the tongue of the blackbird.
The meaning of bird calls
At the same time, the very deciphering of the biological meaning of bird signals allows us to count on the fact that in the case of accurate reproduction of such sounds, a motor response of a nature that can be predicted in advance can be obtained in response. So, for example, if you let a tit listen to a signal that stimulates its immediate takeoff, and then scroll through the signals to stop the flight, then in this way you can control the bird’s movements in the air.
Whereas, imitation of the cry of chicks begging for food can cause adult birds to move towards the source of the sound.
Below we provide a list of those signals whose biological significance cannot be doubted.
Signal of satisfaction
It is a long, quiet squeak that is often emitted by chicks of chickens and other brood birds. This is how warm and well-fed chickens often squeak. Chicks of gulls, waders and some species of ducks similarly show their satisfaction. The sign is a signal and a small passerine.
Begging signal
It is emitted by chicks fed by their parents - passerines, gulls, auks... Moreover, such a signal can be of 2 types. The first can be attributed to the smallest chicks, which emit it when they see food and parents, the second is more typical for fledglings and they emit it during the absence of their parents. Chicks do this so that adult birds can find them. By the way, this signal allows the chicks to stay together.
