Migwe's Singing

Anyone who has been to my house lately knows that Migwe has been in a singing mood. Fall is the time of love in a canary's life. And Migwe is singing his love songs loud and sometimes ear pierceingly clear. But no matter how he sings his lusty little heart out, no female canaries have appeared in his life. We've recently started playing some Christmas albums and he sings along. Sometimes when the song changes keys, he changes keys right along with it. And as the song goes along and comes to a climax with the tempo and the melody, his singing matches the climax. How does he know? Prior to living in Ramsey, my little Russian canary lived at the Robbinsdale Farm and Garden Store. I can imagine they play Christmas songs there too. Does he remember Christmas songs from last year? I was reading a publication called Birdscope - a periodical put out by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In an article titled, "Birds Change Their Minds-Literally" the author cites research on small, long-lived birds like the chickadee and the canary. In a process called neuronal replacement, the birds erase old useless facts to make room for what they need to remember now. By doing this, the little birds can adapt to changes in their environments and social flocks. Chickadees from Colorado were compared with chickadees from Alaska. In harsher environments, the bird brain hippocampus is larger. Alaskan chickadees have to store more food and remember their hiding places to survive. So, if Migwe's little bird brain material is replaceable, how is it he remembers Christmas songs? Perhaps because he doesn't have to remember much, he remembers more. He doesn't have to hide his food. He gets fresh food in a dish every day. He doesn't have to remember where to get fresh water because that is provided as well. The article says the love songs the canary sings in the fall will not be the same love songs he sings next fall. He'll forget the old songs and create new ones. Personally, I don't mind his singing. I feel comforted to hear him sing. Next Thanksgiving I might put him in a bedroom for the day because I saw some guests cringing when he hit the high notes.