Conservation of avian vocal heritage through synthetic song reintroduction

Abstract

Until the spread of digital recording technology, our knowledge of the history of avian vocal culture was based on onomatopoeic descriptions or notations inspired by musical notation. In the 1960s, hand-drawn annotations of the frequency modulations in the songs of Rufous-collared sparrows (Zonotrichia capensis) were made in a natural reserve in Argentina. Some of these song themes have been preserved to the present day, while others have not appeared in recent recordings. In this work, we used a dynamical system based on an avian vocal production model to generate synthetic songs. We designed a song that matches the description of a currently absent theme and used it as a vocal tutor for wild juveniles. The success of our approach suggests a promising tool for preserving the vocal repertoire of wild birds.