Hour of Babble: Young birds sing badly in the morning

Zebra finch youngsters learning to mimic adult songs lose ground but then recover whenever they sleep, according to an extensive study of recordings. After being awake several hours, the young males regain their mastery of the material and then improve on the previous day’s accomplishments.

MUSICAL REST This snoozing young male finch will probably flub his attempts at song for a few hours after he awakes.