What Are Animals Saying? Songbirds and Shared Patterns of Communication

Animals make all sorts of sounds, but are they actually communicating to each other? And if so, what are they saying? And to what degree are their patterns of communication similar to how humans speak? Many of us tend to treat animal sounds as instinctive noise or charming background texture, but researchers who study communication hear something much more structured.

In this talk, Jon Sakata explores what animal communication can tell us about how meaning and pattern work in the natural world. Drawing on his research on songbirds, he will look at what animals might be communicating about and how the patterns in bird song can resemble broad patterns found in human speech and music across cultures. He will also connect his own work to bigger questions about semantics in animal communication more broadly.

Expect a sharp, accessible science talk followed by discussion and Q&A. This is a chance to think more seriously about communication itself, using birds as the entry point.

• A better sense of what scientists think animals may actually be communicating about
• A clearer understanding of why songbirds are such an important model for studying communication
• New ways to think about how meaning and structure can be studied
• A surprising view of how bird song can echo broad patterns in human speech and music

Jon Sakata is a Professor of Biology at McGill University. His research focuses on animal communication and songbird vocal behavior, including how animals produce and learn vocal signals and what those patterns can reveal about broader principles of communication.