Events

28 August 2026

Open Seminar: Global patterns and evolution of avian song complexity

Topic: Ecology/Evolution and Meta‑research
Speaker: Martin Bulla
When: 28 August 2026
Format: In‑person and online
Where: TBC
Link for online participation: TBC
Organisers: EXCELScIOR

Birdsong is a key model system for studying animal communication, vocal learning, and signal evolution. However, it remains unclear why song complexity differs so sharply among birds. Some species produce simple, repetitive songs, whereas others sing long sequences composed of many different elements. We will present a global analysis of song complexity across nearly 5,000 passerine species, using more than 18,000 recordings from citizen-science sound archives. We then describe where song complexity is highest across the world’s bird assemblages and examine the ecological and evolutionary factors associated with this variation. The talk will focus on whether complex birdsong is best explained by sexual selection, acoustic environment, vocal learning, species ecology, or shared evolutionary history.

Speaker’s Bio: Martin is leading bullab, a research group at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. bullab explores global patterns and trait evolution along with local adaptations, with a focus on reproduction, fear, and song, all tied together by a common thread: biorhythms. He also works on open and reproducible science and science-of-science questions, including the reliability of research evaluation, in collaboration with the Research-on-Research Institute