By sharing insights from his research into vocal mimicry, Professor of Biology Dave Gammon helps introduce listeners to the "DJs of the Bird World."
Elon Professor of Biology Dave Gammon was recently featured in a podcast about mockingbirds titled “Meet the DJs of the Bird World.”
The June 15 podcast is part of the “Every Little Thing” series, which is produced by Gimlet Media, a Brooklyn-based company that is a subsidiary of Spotify. The podcast fields questions from listeners and then taps experts for answers. For the “Meet the DJs of the Bird World” episode, a listener named Tim from San Diego asks why mockingbirds sing so many different kinds of songs, and Gammon draws upon his research into vocal mimicry to help answer Tim’s question.
“As a mockingbird mimicry researcher, I have to be an expert on every sound that is made by any species ever in my local area,” Gammon said during the podcast.
Gammon then helps translate a mockingbird call, noting that the bird mimicked a blue jay and multiple varieties of tufted titmouse before giving a bald eagle chatter vocalization. He explains some of the rules that mockingbirds adhere to when they strong together song types.
Gammon’s portion of the podcast, which is available here, begins at about the 9:45 mark.
Gammon was interviewed from a homemade radio studio he created in his kid’s closet. Gammon offers thanks to producer Emily Forman for her coaching and also to podcast host, Flora Lichtman.
