Anyone who’s camped in pūkeko country knows they make a heck of a lot of noise. Now, researchers led by a team from the University of Konstanz in Germany have discovered that the birds’ language also has a “sophisticated and structured” logic to it. The team analysed thousands of recordings of the birds’ raucous breeding season at Tāwharanui Regional Park, and isolated 13 sounds that were often strung together, especially during “yelling bouts”. The birds tend to warm up with, say, a brr, tut or buzz and move into a scream or a snort before the finale, a bup, squeek, brumm or drr.
It’s the first time such a system has been found in the avian world outside of songbirds, says Kristal Cain, a University of Auckland biologist who helped with the work. Cain says that until now, scientists haven’t taken a lot of notice of pūkeko calls, and we don’t yet know whether the birds are just burbling away—or combining the sounds to convey meaning, as do humans, songbirds and animals such as whales, chimps and bats. For a long time, she points out, humans assumed we were the only ones capable of such sophisticated speech.
