Why do some bird songs endure for generations while others fade away? An FAU study suggests the answer may lie in the landscape itself. Researchers found that the most common songs of Bachman’s sparrows travel through natural habitats with greater clarity than rarer songs, raising the possibility that environmental acoustics help shape which vocal traditions are learned, shared and passed down over time.

How do animals benefit from living in colonies? By tracking over one-third of Adélie penguins in an Antarctic colony, we found that penguins often departed together and used information from conspecifics when searching for foraging sites. Individuals that had been unsuccessful on their previous trip were especially likely to reach new sites by using social information. These findings suggest that colonies can function as information hubs, helping animals make better decisions about where to forage.