WASHINGTON (AP) — Male songbirds usually learn their tunes from adult mentors, but when aspiring crooners lack proper role models, they hit all the wrong notes — and have less success attracting mates. Scientists in Australia found that 12% of endangered male regent honeyeaters had learned to repeat the songs of other bird species, not sing their traditional tunes. With only about 300 or 400 birds left in the wild, scientists worry that the loss of their own songs could further accelerate the decline of these distinctive birds. The research was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
