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These songbirds sing for hours a day to keep their vocal muscles in shape

Zebra finches who did not sing every day quickly lose their vocal prowess, a new study finds. The results could potentially shed light on vocal rehabilitation for humans, too.
New research suggests that zebra finches must sing a lot to maintain top-tier singing performances.

Not all birds sing, but those that do — some several thousand species — do it a lot. All over the world, as soon as light filters over the horizon, songbirds launch their serenades. They sing to defend their territory and croon to impress potential mates.

"Why birds sing is relatively well-answered," says , a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Southern Denmark. The big question for her was

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