Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A sequence of
sounds uttered by ayoung bird before it has learned to produce normalbirdsong .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Young male zebra finches produce something called a subsong, "which has been likened to the babbling of a human infant."
NPR Topics: News 2010
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Young male zebra finches produce something called a subsong, "which has been likened to the babbling of a human infant."
NPR Topics: News 2010
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In transforming subsong to real song, individuals not only imitate parents and neighbors but also improvise and invent: young birds transform themes, mix syllables, and incorporate new elements into their songs and may create individual signatures.
Birdology Sy Montgomery 2010
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The calling and the subsong seem like ancient history; winter has turned to spring in one bird over three mornings.
A Year on the Wing TIM DEE 2009
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Ornithologists who study songbirds call the young birds’ early babblings “subsong.”
Birdology Sy Montgomery 2010
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Today I don’t see him, but I hear his curious, inward, whispered subsong coming from deep in the eucalyptus.
A Year on the Wing TIM DEE 2009
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