Authors
Nick Dam
H. Honing
Michelle Spierings
Date (dd-mm-yyyy)
2026-08-27
Title
Finding musicality in parrots through citizen science
Journal
Animal Biology
Publication Year
2026-08-27
Number of pages
1
Document type
Meeting Abstract
Abstract
Musicality, the set of cognitive mechanisms underlying music perception, production and appreciation, is a universal feature of human cognition. Comparative research across species is a relevant tool to understand the biological roots and potential evolution of these cognitive abilities. Parrots (Psittaciformes) are an excellent model to study musicality as they are open-ended vocal learners capable of imitating a wide range of allospecific sounds, including human speech and music. In this project, we explore the cognitive foundations of musicality in parrots using a large-scale citizen science approach. Through the Bird Singalong Project, we collaborate with parrot owners worldwide to collect and analyse recordings of their birds’ vocalizations. Participants submit recordings of their parrots singing along with music, receive acoustically altered versions of these songs from us, and subsequently play them back to their parrots while recording their responses. This interactive paradigm allows us to examine individual differences in vocal flexibility, imitation accuracy, and sensitivity to musical features such as relative pitch. Combined with publicly available datasets of parrot vocal imitations, these data provide a unique opportunity to quantify vocal complexity across species and to test hypotheses on the perceptual and cognitive capacities underlying musical behaviour. Ultimately, this approach contributes to a broader understanding of the evolutionary origins of musicality by linking animal vocal learning and auditory perception to the building blocks of human musical cognition.
URL
go to publisher's site
Note
In special issue: Abstracts from the 32nd BeNeLux Zoology Conference (ZOOlogy2025 – Zooming in the World of Animals) Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 7-9 December 2025
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/cb695df4-89d3-4729-9eb3-cd3211660e6e