Berkeley scientist develops first dictionary of zebra finch calls
Dr Julie Elie believes humans could hold meaningful vocal exchanges with another species within 10 years.
Dr Julie Elie, an animal behaviour researcher and associate project scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed an acoustic catalogue of zebra finch calls after more than a decade of study. According to a Times of India report, the research identifies 11 distinct types of vocalisations used by the birds in different social situations.
The study involved examining approximately 8,000 recordings from dozens of birds. Dr Elie observed the birds in Australia before continuing her research in a lab setting. The research focused on everyday calls used to communicate with mates, which can indicate hunger, distress, danger, aggression, or the need to maintain contact.
A research paper published in the journal Science on September 18, 2025, suggests that the birds organise their calls according to meaning. Researchers noted that birds were more likely to confuse calls with similar meanings, even if the sounds were different, but were less likely to confuse calls that sounded similar but served different purposes.
Dr Elie received the Coller-Dolittle Prize for Two-Way Interspecies Communication in June 2026, a US$100,000 award for work towards developing human-animal communication. She believes birds could be among the first animals with which humans achieve such an exchange, though she noted that researchers must still understand how calls are combined and how body movements tie into vocal exchanges.