Whether it is the climate, beaches, or simply being away from the hustle and bustle, island cultures around the world often do things differently to the mainland.
It turns out this phenomenon isn’t unique to humans.
New research from the University of the Sunshine Coast has found tiny songbirds, called silvereyes, living on islands off Queensland have developed their own distinct vocal ‘cultures’ that set them apart from mainland birds.
They might even have their own ‘genre’ of music.
Researchers discovered that silvereyes living on separate, isolated islands produced song dialects that were more similar to each other than they were to birds on the nearby mainland, despite the islands being more than 100 kilometres apart.
UniSC Associate Professor of Animal Ecology Dominique Potvin said the findings challenged long-held assumptions about how birdsong evolve.
“We expected that geography and genetics would explain differences in dialect, but they didn’t,” Dr Potvin said.
“Instead, these island birds have developed their own shared song culture, independent of distance, ancestry or how long the populations have been isolated.”
The research paper, led by UniSC Honours graduate Marie Robert, compared the songs of silvereyes from four populations in South East Queensland: the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Coast on the mainland, and Heron Island and Lady Elliot Island offshore.
Despite being bigger, the island birds tended to sing higher pitched, longer syllables, and their repertoires were more diverse.
The songs and syllables also diverged in ways not predicted by genetic relatedness or geographic distance.
“Birdsong is socially learned, so it can change much faster than DNA,” Dr Potvin said.
The findings mirror patterns seen in human language, where island communities often develop dialects distinct from the mainland.
And it might not just be island birds with their own musical ‘genres’.
“In a previous study, we found that silvereyes in the country had a different style of song to their city-dwelling relatives,” Dr Potvin said.
“It’s a reminder that animals have cultural traditions too – these silvereyes are essentially composing their own soundtracks reflective of their community.”
The work is part of the broader Leaf to Reef initiative, an integrative program researching the biodiversity and unique ecosystem of Lady Elliot Island and its connection and importance for the wider Great Barrier Reef.
Leaf to Reef was made possible thanks to funding from the Reef Trust Partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, the Queensland Government, Lendlease and the Fitzgerald Family Foundation.
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