Research Projects

Bird acoustic signals play a crucial role in communication, courtship, territorial defense, and species recognition. Passerine birds' songs consist of various notes grouped in a specific syntax. However, little research has been conducted on the evolution and function of syntactic structure, which may also be important in recognition. This project aims to combine field and laboratory-based approaches to understand how geographic barriers drive the evolution of song syntactic structure, how syntax functions as an isolating signal in birds, and how syntax communicates identity and behavioral context. The interdisciplinary synthesis, combining behavior and ecology with computational and mathematical analyses, will be useful in understanding fundamental processes in speciation and developing better recognition algorithms based on syntactic structure. Field recordings of four species of the genus Spelaeornis will be conducted in Northeast India, and computational and mathematical tools will be used to analyze the evolution of vocal syntax and its variation between territories and populations.