Dr Patricia Gray and colleagues have found that the undersea songs of humpback whales, for example, use rhythms similar to those used by humans. They say whales mix percussive sounds with pure tones in the same proportion as western symphonic music. And like humans, whales use variations on basic themes to create longer songs that contain repeated refrains. Perfect pitch Birds are said to use every fundamental rhythmic effect found in human music. The 18th Century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a great admirer of bird song and even wrote a piece of music inspired by a pet starling's song.
Starlings have tremendous vocal talents.
I can well imagine Mozart whistling something out loud, and there the starling is picking up on it, whistling it back to him and then mixing it up with all sorts of variations. The palm cockatoo of Northern Australia shapes a drumstick from a twig and beats out rhythms on hollow logs as part of its courtship ritual. Birds, whales and humans also share the ability to memorise and learn musical patterns. These patterns may be handed down from generation to generation, or individuals from the same generation can learn from each other. The researchers give the example of Indian Ocean humpback whales that moved to the Pacific coast of Australia.