Editing Bird (section)

===Communication===
{{See also|Bird vocalisation}}
{{Listen|filename=Troglodytes aedon - House Wren - XC79974.ogg|title=Bird song|description=Song of the [[Northern house wren|house wren]], a common North American songbird
|filename2=Tooth-billed_Catbird_audio09.ogg|title2=Mimicry|description2=A [[tooth-billed bowerbird]] mimicking a [[spangled drongo]]
|filename3=Picidae pecking on wood.ogg|title3=Drumming|description3=A [[woodpecker]] drumming on wood}}Birds [[Animal communication|communicate]] primarily using visual and auditory signals. Signals can be interspecific (between species) and intraspecific (within species).

Birds sometimes use plumage to assess and assert social dominance,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Möller |first=Anders Pape |year=1988 |title=Badge size in the house sparrow ''Passer domesticus''|journal=[[Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology]] |volume=22 |issue=5 |pages=373–378 |doi=10.1007/BF00295107 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226147226 |jstor=4600164}}</ref> to display breeding condition in sexually selected species, or to make threatening displays, as in the [[sunbittern]]'s mimicry of a large predator to ward off [[hawk]]s and protect young chicks.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thomas |first=Betsy Trent |date=1 August 1990 |title=Nesting Behavior of Sunbitterns (''Eurypyga helias'') in Venezuela |journal=The Condor |volume=92 |issue=3 |pages=576–581 |doi=10.2307/1368675 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v092n03/p0576-p0581.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305194240/http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v092n03/p0576-p0581.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |author2=Strahl |jstor=1368675 }}</ref>

[[File:Stavenn Eurypiga helias 00.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Large brown patterned ground bird with outstretched wings each with a large spot in the centre|The startling display of the [[sunbittern]] mimics a large predator.]]Visual communication among birds may also involve ritualised displays, which have developed from non-signalling actions such as preening, the adjustments of feather position, pecking, or other behaviour. These displays may signal aggression or submission or may contribute to the formation of pair-bonds.<ref name = "Gill"/> The most elaborate displays occur during courtship, where "dances" are often formed from complex combinations of many possible component movements;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pickering |first=S. P. C. |year=2001 |title=Courtship behaviour of the Wandering Albatross ''Diomedea exulans'' at Bird Island, South Georgia |journal=Marine Ornithology |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=29–37 |url=http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/29_1/29_1_6.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/29_1/29_1_6.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> males' breeding success may depend on the quality of such displays.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pruett-Jones |first=S.G. |date=1 May 1990|title=Sexual Selection Through Female Choice in Lawes' Parotia, A Lek-Mating Bird of Paradise |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_evolution_1990-05_44_3/page/486 |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=486–501 |doi=10.2307/2409431 |author2=Pruett-Jones|jstor=2409431 |pmid=28567971 }}</ref>

[[Bird vocalization|Bird calls and songs]], which are produced in the [[Syrinx (biology)|syrinx]], are the major means by which birds communicate with [[sound]]. This communication can be very complex; some species can operate the two sides of the syrinx independently, allowing the simultaneous production of two different songs.<ref name = "Suthers"/> Calls are used for a variety of purposes, including mate attraction,<ref name = "Gill"/> evaluation of potential mates,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Genevois |first1=F. |last2=Bretagnolle |first2=V. |title=Male blue petrels reveal their body mass when calling |journal=Ethology Ecology & Evolution |date=September 1994 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=377–383 |doi=10.1080/08927014.1994.9522988 |bibcode=1994EtEcE...6..377G }}</ref> bond formation, the claiming and maintenance of territories,<ref name = "Gill"/><ref name=":0" /> the identification of other individuals (such as when parents look for chicks in colonies or when mates reunite at the start of breeding season),<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jouventin |first1=Pierre |date=June 1999 |title=Finding a parent in a king penguin colony: the acoustic system of individual recognition |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=57 |issue=6 |pages=1175–1183 |doi=10.1006/anbe.1999.1086 |pmid=10373249 |last2=Aubin |first2=T |last3=Lengagne |first3=T }}</ref> and the warning of other birds of potential predators, sometimes with specific information about the nature of the threat.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Templeton |first1=Christopher N. |year=2005 |title=Allometry of Alarm Calls: Black-Capped Chickadees Encode Information About Predator Size |journal=Science |volume=308 |issue=5730 |pages=1934–1937 |doi=10.1126/science.1108841 |pmid=15976305 |last2=Greene |first2=E |last3=Davis |first3=K|bibcode=2005Sci...308.1934T }}</ref> Some birds also use mechanical sounds for auditory communication. The ''[[Coenocorypha]]'' [[snipe]]s of [[New Zealand]] drive air through their feathers,<ref name = "Miskelly">{{Cite journal|last=Miskelly |first=C. M. |date=July 1987 |title=The identity of the hakawai |journal=Notornis |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=95–116}}</ref> [[woodpecker]]s drum for long-distance communication,<ref name="DodenhoffStark2001">{{cite journal|last1=Dodenhoff|first1=Danielle J.|last2=Stark|first2=Robert D.|last3=Johnson|first3=Eric V.|title=Do woodpecker drums encode information for species recognition?|journal=The Condor|volume=103|issue=1|year=2001|page=143 |doi=10.1650/0010-5422(2001)103[0143:DWDEIF]2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[palm cockatoo]]s use tools to drum.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Murphy |first1=Stephen |year=2003 |title=The breeding biology of palm cockatoos (''Probosciger aterrimus''): a case of a slow life history |journal=[[Journal of Zoology]] |volume=261 |issue=4 |pages=327–339 |doi=10.1017/S0952836903004175 |last2=Legge |first2=Sarah |last3=Heinsohn |first3=Robert}}</ref>