Loon Music

A duet by loons

These pair of loons were spotted in New Hampshire while someone was kayaking close by. They put out the alarm call, their beautiful song, when they spotted a great blue heron flying by. If you look closely you can see a baby waking up or shifting on it’s parent back. The music of the loon is recognized by most people. Ever think about including the songs of birds in your lessons. One way to connect the environment and outdoors into curriculum and has the potential to engage learners.

Links to song birds and learning

• How and why birds sing
• Vocal learning
• Song learning of songbirds
• What songbirds teach us about learning
• How songbirds teach themselves songs

This is most fascinating – the brain and learning and what songbirds can teach us about learning and the brain: Mimi Kao at TEDxCaltech, January 2013.

Mimi Kao is a postdoctoral fellow in neurobiology in the laboratory of Dr. Allison Doupe at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She received her undergraduate degree in Human Biology and East Asian Studies from Stanford. After pursuing a Master’s degree in East Asian Studies at Harvard, she received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCSF. Her central interest is in understanding the neural mechanisms underlying learning using an animal model system specialized for vocal motor learning.