Here’s a challenge for you: next time you’re outside any time between dawn and dusk, see how long you can last without hearing a single bird. Not long, I bet. Antarctica residents: you’re cheating. Needless to say, birdsong is everywhere, whether or not we happen to be listening. As you might expect, there is a long history of scientific research into the phenomenon. The beauty, complexity and sheer variety of sounds made by birds has captured the imaginations of countless minds from Keats to Darwin. Recently though, the focus of some biologists has shifted away from the whys and hows of birdsong, towards answering the question: is our increasingly noisy world having any effects on the way birds communicate? The short, emphatic answer: “yes”, but it’s a little more complicated than that… Anthropogenic noise, or “noise pollution” is a big challenge faced by nearly all wildlife, and it’s only getting worse. As urban sprawls expand into natural landscapes, and human populations continue to grow at an alarming rate, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to escape the sounds of the modern world. Read more...