Franz Goller

TL;DR: The role of syringeal muscles in controlling the aperture of the avian vocal organ, the syrinx, was evaluated directly by observing and filming through an endoscope while electrically stimulating different muscle groups of anaesthetised birds.

TL;DR: The synergy between respiratory and syringeal motor systems, and the unique bilateral, simultaneous, and independent sound production, combined with dynamic modification of the acoustic structure of song, make the zebra finch an excellent model system for exploring mechanisms of sensorimotor integration underlying a complex learned behavior.

TL;DR: It is shown that male brown-headed cowbirds synchronize the most elaborate wing movements of their display with atypically long silent periods in their song, potentially avoiding adverse biomechanical effects on sound production.

TL;DR: It is reported that in brown thrashers (Toxostoma rufum) only the activity of muscles that gate sound production by regulating airflow through each side of the syrinx is lateralized, suggesting that song lateralization did not evolve as a means of achieving a single 'executive' command centre, or as a way of economizing on motor circuits to free brain space for other tasks.

TL;DR: The soundgenerating mechanism in the bird syrinx has been the subject of debate as mentioned in this paper, and endoscopic imaging of the syrinix during phonation provided evidence for vibrations of membranes and labia, bu