Fun with Science Club®


			Whale songs have rhythm and rhyme. Beth Tyler 05.03.01 Many animals, including whales and birds, use music to communicate with each other. Some of the music is very similar to human music. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), for example, use a song pattern similar to human songs. Their music has rhythm, repeats, and even rhymes. These humpback composers probably use rhymes like humans do - to help them remember the songs. Just as people from different cultures write music that sounds different, humpback whales in different oceans have completely different songs. Their songs also change from year to year. The whales teach each other the new song, much like children playing and singing on a playground. Birds also sing songs. They use harmony, melody, and rhythm to communicate through music. In addition to using their own voices, some birds even use instruments to create sound. One bird, the palm cockatto (Probosciger arterrimus), breaks off twigs from trees, holds the twig in its foot, and uses it as a drumstick on a log. Amazing! Finding these similarities between the music humans make and the music other animals make suggests that making music is a more ancient art that anyone realized.


			Gray, Patricia M., Bernie Drause, Jell Atema, Roger Payne, Carol Krumhansl, and Luis Baptista. 2001. The music of nature and the nature of music. Science, 291(5501) 52-55.