Bedeutung und Mechanismen des Vogelgesangs: Inspiration für die Pneumologie

Zusammenfassung

Im Gegensatz zum Menschen ist der Ort der Lautbildung bei Vögeln nicht der Kehlkopf, sondern der sog. „Stimmkopf“ (wissenschaftliche Name „Syrinx“). Bei einigen Arten ist der Syrinx an der Bifurkation der Trachea in die beiden Hauptbronchien (trachealer Stimmkopf), bei anderen Arten in den Hauptbronchien (bronchialer Stimmkopf) lokalisiert. Bei der Inspiration strömt ein Teil der Luft in die Lunge, der zum Singen benötigte Teil in die der Lunge benachbarten Luftsäcke. Während der Exspiration verlässt die Luft die Luftsäcke, strömt durch die Syrinx, wo dann der Gesang entsteht. Wenn Vögel gleichzeitig zweistimmig singen, werden einzelne Sequenzen simultan im rechten und linken Anteil der Syrinx gebildet.

Die Gesangsanalyse erfolgt mittels Spektrogrammen (sog. Sonagrammen), die den zeitlichen Verlauf des Frequenzspektrums des Vogelgesangs grafisch darstellen.

Der Gesang besteht aus einer oder mehreren Strophen, die ihrerseits aus der variablen bzw. konstanten Abfolge von Motiven oder Silben aufgebaut sind. Einige Singvögel verfügen über ein enormes Silben- und Strophenrepertoire (max. bis zu 7000 Strophen/Tag). Bei den meisten Vogelarten existieren neben dem Gesang auch deutlich einfachere Bettel-, Kontakt-, Droh-, Flug-, Alarm- und Kopulationsrufe.

Der Gesang der männlichen Vögel hat vorwiegend zwei Funktionen: 1. Mithilfe des Gesangs wird um eine mögliche Partnerin geworben. Den Weibchen liefert der Gesang wichtige Informationen über Leistungsfähigkeit und Gesundheitszustand des Bewerbers. 2. Der Gesang dient der Revierverteidigung.

Bei ca. 40 % der Singvogelarten singen auch die Weibchen. Pärchen mancher Singvogelart singen perfekt synchronisiert.

Eine ganze Reihe von Singvögeln imitiert sowohl die Stimmen anderer Singvögel als auch Umgebungsgeräusche und viele Singvögel besitzen regionale Dialekte.

Die Gesangsentwicklung hängt neben genetischen von weiteren Faktoren, wie z. B. Umwelt, Stoffwechsel und hormonellem Einfluss, ab. Sie verläuft schrittweise und beinhaltet initial relativ primitive Sequenzen (sog. „subsongs“), führt dann über komplexere Zwischenformen („plastic songs“) zum vollendeten Gesangsmuster („full songs“).

Jungvögel lernen den Gesang ihrer Art bereits zu einem Zeitpunkt, an dem sie selbst noch gar nicht singen, oft bereits im Alter von 10–50 Tagen durch Prägung von älteren Artgenossen, gewöhnlich den Vätern.

In einem Netzwerk aus sensomotorischen Neuronen im Vorderhorn entwickelt sich der Gesang der Jungvögel auf der Basis der Schablone des Erwachsenengesangs.

Für das Sprachlernen des Menschen bieten Singvögel, insbesondere der Zebrafink, das derzeit beste Modell bzgl. neuronaler Mechanismen des Sprachlernens. Bei Vögeln orchestriert das sog. „High Vocal Center“ (HVC) alle für den Gesang relevanten Hirnregionen, wobei die neuronale Kontrolle des Gesangs sensitiv für Geschlechtshormone ist.

Abstract

In contrast to humans, the location where sound is produced in birds is not the larynx, but rather the so-called “vocal box” (scientific term “Syrinx”). In some species the syrinx is located at the bifurcation point of the trachea into the two main bronchi (tracheal vocal head), while in some in the main bronchi (bronchial vocal head). During inspiration, part of the air flows into the lungs, and the part needed for singing flows into the air sacs adjacent to the lungs. During expiration, air leaves the air sacs and flows through the syrinx, where the song is created. When birds sing in two voices at the same time, individual sequences are formed simultaneously in the right and left parts of the syrinx.

The song analysis is based on spectrograms (so-called sonagrams), which graphically represent the frequency spectrum of bird song.

The song consists of one or more verses, which in turn consist of the variable or constant sequence of motives or syllables. Some songbirds have an enormous repertoire of syllables and verses (max. up to 7000 verses per day). In addition to singing, most bird species also have much simpler begging, contact, threatening, flight, alarm and copulation calls.

Male birds sing primarily for two reasons: 1. They use song to woo a potential partner. This song provides the females with important information about the applicantʼs performance and health. 2. Singing serves to defend the territory.

In around 40 % of songbird species, females also sing. Pairs of some species sing in perfect synchronization.

A number of songbirds imitate both the voices of other songbirds and ambient noises, and many songbirds have regional dialects.

Song development depends on genetics and other factors such as the environment, metabolism and hormonal influences. It proceeds step by step and initially includes relatively primitive sequences (so-called “subsongs”), then leads through more complex intermediate forms (“plastic songs”) and finally to the completed singing pattern (“full songs”).

Young birds learn the song of their species at a time when they are not yet singing themselves, often as nestlings aged 10 to 50 days from older members of the species, usually from their fathers.

The song of young birds develops, based on the template of adult song, in a network of sensory-motor neurons in the forebrain.

Songbirds, especially the zebra finch, currently offer the best model for the neural basis of human language learning. In birds, the so-called “High Vocal Center” orchestrates all brain regions relevant to songs, with the neural control of song being sensitive to sex hormones.

Schlüsselwörter

Vogelgesang - Ventilation - Syrinx - Bedeutung - Entwicklung und Funktion des Vogelgesangs

Keywords

bird song - ventilation - syrinx - impact - development and function of bird song

Publication History

Article published online:
31 January 2025

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