Authors
Maja Mielke, Sam Van Wassenbergh
Publication date
2022/7/15
Journal
Journal of Experimental Biology
Volume
225
Issue
14
Pages
jeb244360
Publisher
The Company of Biologists Ltd
Description
Many songbird species rely on seeds as a primary food source and the process of picking up, positioning, cracking, dehusking and swallowing seeds is one of the most sophisticated tasks of the beak. Still, we lack understanding about how granivorous songbirds move their beak during the different phases of seed processing. In this study, we used multi-view high-speed imaging to analyze the 3D movement of the beak in feeding domestic canaries. Our analysis focused on the correlation of the upper and lower beak, the frequency of mandibulation and the direction of mandible movement in 3D space. We show that the correlation of maxilla and mandible movement differs among the phases of seed processing. Furthermore, we found that the beak moves at extremely high frequencies, up to 25 Hz, which resembles previously reported maximal syllable rates in singing canaries. Finally, we report that canaries …
Total citations
2023202442
Scholar articles