Birdsongs are both innate and learned. However, young birds must hear an adult male sing the species song. Why?

Question

A.
Young birds can immediately match the song they learn.

B.
A bird raised alone will never sing.

C.
Birds can learn the species song as soon as they listen to it.

D.
The song gets imprinted on the young birds.

Answer 1

B. A bird raised alone will never sing.

This is because young birds need to hear adult males sing the species song in order to learn and imitate it. Without this exposure, a bird raised alone will not have the opportunity to learn to sing the correct song for its species.