• casualSTEM
  • Posts
  • What Birds Dream About: Reconstructing the Nocturnal Chants of Kiskadees

What Birds Dream About: Reconstructing the Nocturnal Chants of Kiskadees

STEM Snacks

tilted Erlenmeyer flask logo, then "casualSTEM"

casualSTEM delivers brief and informative summaries of the latest science news every Saturday. Full of jokes, silly polls, and a cartoon!

Get the weekly email that explains science in sweatpants. Stay smart for free.

line divider
bird singing in a dreamscape

image created by Steve Burgess

Bird Dreams

If we dream of flying, what do birds dream of? Researchers recently reconstructed their slumber songs to find out.

  • Primarily studied the great kiskadee

  • Monitored vocal muscle contractions

  • Translated into songs using biomechanics models

Slumbering kiskadees replay their best hits of the day, often territorial disputes. Similar tools could help us better understand other animal dreamscapes. Like, what do sheep count?

More from AIP Publishing

AI (yai yai)

ChatGPT tries stand-up comedy. How do you think it did?

Researchers used biomechanics models to translate what birds sing in their sleep. Next, can they translate what my cat’s plotting at 2 AM?

ChatGPT

Last week’s science in sweatpants

Reply

or to participate.