Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
1997-2-12
pubmed:abstractText
Songbirds vocalizing in helium show a change in the spectral quality of their vocalizations. This effect is due to an increase in the speed of sound in helium that in turn alters the resonance properties of the vocal tract. Here, this approach is extended to a psittacine, the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), whose syringeal anatomy and innervation differ from that of a songbird. Contact calls from birds vocalizing in heliox (70/30 helium/oxygen environment) showed an overall increase in the amount of energy at frequencies above the fundamental, slight changes in the frequency of the fundamental and harmonics, and some change in the level of harmonics. Calls produced by a syringeally denervated bird showed more dramatic changes. Recordings from live birds were compared with sounds produced by various simple "artificial" tracheal and syringeal models. Results suggest that budgerigars produce contact calls using the syringeal membranes as a unitary sound source which produces acoustic energy in a narrow frequency band whose fundamental frequency is matched to the resonant frequency of the trachea. The syrinx is not normally coupled to the tracheal resonator, and resonances probably play only a minor role in shaping the spectrum of contact calls.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
0001-4966
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
101
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
578-89
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1997
pubmed:articleTitle
Mechanisms of vocal production in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus).
pubmed:affiliation
Psychology Department, University of Maryland, College Park 20742-4411, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't