McGill study finds shared patterns in birdsong and human speech

Researchers at McGill University found shared vocal patterns in birds and humans.

The study says birdsong, human song and human speech can all use small changes in pitch and lengthened phrases.

Pitch intervals are the gaps between notes or tones, while phrase elongation means stretching out parts of a vocal phrase.

The findings point to similarities between bird and human communication, even though the study describes patterns rather than claiming the two are the same.

They suggest that some features of vocal communication may be shared across species.

The researchers’ findings are the central result; no next steps are described in the available information.