New research has found that a loss of song culture could be a big problem for one of Australia’s rarest songbirds. A lack of adult males passing on mating calls to younger birds may have forced some to pick up the tunes of other species. Females are less likely to pair and nest with those singing unusual songs, causing further problems for dwindling populations. Conservationists are trying a new technique to arrest this decline, playing songs captured in the wild to birds bred in captivity
• How an endangered Australian songbird is forgetting its love songs