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Article: Sweet Dreams.(dreams of zebra finches)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- National Wildlife
- Article date:
- February 1, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 National Wildlife Federation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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What do birds dream about while they sleep? A recent study suggests that zebra finches, at least, dream of singing.
The colorful songbirds, native to Australian grasslands, breed easily in captivity, making them popular both as pets and as lab subjects. Males sing to attract mates, and learn their songs by imitating other zebra finches.
Daniel Margoliash and Amish Dave at the University of Chicago measured the brain-cell firing patterns of several captive finches while they were awake and singing, and found that the birds spontaneously ...