Bird's Voice Box

by Terri Lee McCord

“A true songbird has to learn to communicate effectively” Cornell Lab

Some birds are born

with their song,

but most learn in the nest,

might acquire

an area-specific dialect

one bird can sing alone

as a pair,

with a syrinx instead of a human larynx,

what allows two different

notes independently,

two unrelated pitches

rising and falling

notes simultaneously

complex and varied

an assemblage of trills

that seems call and response

call and response

the birds can mimic other species

isolated by geographic features

mountains, bodies of water,

stretches of unsuitable habitat

but with practice, the bird can

brave somewhere else and choose

from well over a thousand songs to sing