The Curious Canon Of Swamp Sparrow Songs

Top of Mind with Julie Rose • Season 1, Episode 882, Segment 2

Aug 21, 2018 • 18m

Guest: Stephen Nowicki, PhD, Professor of Biology, Duke University When a male swamp sparrow sings to a prospective mate, the song sounds more like Frank Sinatra singing “I got you under my skin” than Justin Bieber singing “If I was your boyfriend, never let you go.” Female swamp sparrows prefer males who croon the oldies, as it turns out. And so these birds have become really good at passing down the same successful love songs from one generation to another over centuries. That’s something scientists have long thought was really only possible in humans.

Other Segments

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Guest: John Penn, Executive Director of Field Services, Colorado Department of Education As kids head back to class, some schools are considering the trend of shorter weeks. More than 500 school districts in 25 states have at least one school on a four-day week – meaning they take Monday or Friday off and squeeze the week’s instruction into the other four days. Colorado leads the way, with more than half of its school districts on a four-day week.

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