Okay, but did birds invent music?

E31. If a bird sings a phrase worthy of Beethoven, is that music, or just biology in a nice outfit? Dr. Hollis Taylor, a violinist, composer, and ornithologist, has spent more than two decades recording and transcribing the songs of the Pied Butcherbird, an Australian songbird whose vocal life keeps blurring that line.In this episode:How a single pied butcherbird can sing for seven hours through the night, almost never repeating itself, then return the next spring with a brand new repertoireWhat a violin can and can't reproduce when it tries to follow a butcherbird, from steep glissandos to rattles a human instrument simply cannot makeThe case for birdsong as musicAll audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Winter Wren audio contributed by Matthew D. Medler, ML136183Hermit Thrush audio contributed by Matthew D. Medler, ML169025Wood Thrush audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML168331White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219799Australian Magpie audio contributed by Emma Greig, ML218159Willie-wagtail audio contributed by Cedar Mathers-Winn, ML188954Humpback Whale audio contributed by Flip Harrington, ML123414Pied Butcherbird song and composition excerpts courtesy of Dr. Hollis Taylor (piedbutcherbird.net, piedbutcherbird.com).