Attenborough’s Wonder of Song

David Attenborough presents seven of the most remarkable animal songs found in nature and explores the significance of these songs in the lives of their species.

In 1960, a young David Attenborough helped capture the first-ever audio of Madagascar’s largest lemur, the indri. Using a battery-powered portable tape recorder, he played the sounds back to the lemurs and was rewarded with responses, which were thought to be a “keep out” signal over territory.

The lyrebird can mimic the sounds of at least 20 different species. A male lyrebird manipulatively uses this to his advantage, mimicking the sound of a flock of birds to convince a nearby female that danger is outside of his realm and that she is better off sticking with him.

It was once thought that only male songbirds were capable of song. However, in 64 percent of all songbird species, the females sing. Professor Naomi Langmore first made this discovery by recording a female fairy-wren singing to defend her territory.