Scientists learned this by studying a Bengalese finch father teaching his chick the famous and complex songs of their species. The mathematical formula the birds use match the patterns found in human speech. And the same communication structure can be found in humpback whales.

“We have become used to the idea that language is unique in the natural world,” said the study lead, Simon Kirby of the University of Edinburgh. “But by using insights from how babies learn language we’ve been able to take a closer look at birdsong, and have discovered a surprising commonality between these species separated by more than 300 million years of evolution.” 

The study, a combined effort by several international research organizations, compared knowledge of how human babies learn language to song data from Japanese Bengalese finches. These finches are famous for their parenting skills and complex song structure. The scientists were surprised to discover the notes the birds sang came in coherent sequences following distinct patterns, much like the words in human language.

“I have studied Bengalese finch song for many years and thought I knew it rather well,” said study co-author Kazuo Okanoya from Teikyo University in Japan. “It was therefore a pleasant surprise to discover […] that it shares yet another property with whale song and human language: frequently used chunks of syllables tend to be shorter, while less frequently used chunks tend to be longer — a pattern known as Zipf’s law.”

Now these scientists believe that language as a highly sophisticated structured system may not be uniquely human.  Instead, they say language may be more universal and closely connected to evolution.

“For me, it is really exciting to see how ideas from child language learning can reveal new insights about language evolution and animal communication," said study co-author Inbal, professor at the University of Edinburgh and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Previous research has suggested similar patterns can be found in humpback whale songs.

The observation that adult birds teach their young songs isn’t a new discovery, but finding how they organize their songs and how chicks pick them up in ways similar to how humans do it is considered an important step in expanding our knowledge of language.

“We humans are the only species with language, but we share the planet with several others who also have culturally evolving communication,” said Kirby, “and this may make us more similar to one another than we previously thought.” 

Comments: There seems to be some disagreement among these scientists as to whether animal communication can be considered language or not. Professor Kirby clearly says humans are the only species with language. Nevertheless we all have to agree that animals can have sophisticated methods of communication whatever we call it.

The emphasis in this story is that the similarities between animal communication and human language is all due to evolution. Language has evolved along with everything else, these researchers believe.

But there are questions with this theory. According to evolutionary timelines, birds have been on this planet for at least 150 million years. Where is the evidence that their birdsong has evolved at all during that time. In other words, where can it be shown that the earliest bird fathers weren’t teaching their young how to sing just like the birds of today are doing?

Humans supposedly have been around for no more than 2 million years or so. How were we able to develop such a sophisticated language in such a short time compared to that of birds?

Secular scientists believe the similarities between animal communication and human language are all due to evolution. But why can’t these similarities be credited to a common Creator? Why should we expect that God would reinvent the wheel each time He created a new species?

The ability of all creatures to communicate so well with other members of their species is truly amazing, evidence of an intelligent Creator. Evolution can’t create anything intelligent. It has no brain.

As the Bible says, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how untraceable his ways!” Romans 11:33.

And if nature demonstrates the wisdom of God, even more so is His plan of salvation. What mere mortal could have come up with a plan that involves an innocent Son of God dying for the transgressions of His sinful children? What person would invent the idea that salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and not through our own efforts to try to be saved. Being saved by our works is the normal but errant human response. 

Thank God that the Holy Spirit is showing us that salvation is only through faith as a gift from God. “Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast“ Ephesians 2:8-9.

–Warren Krug

Reference: Jenny Lehmann, "Birdsong and Whale Songs Share a Surprising Similarity With Human Language," Discover magazine [August 7, 2026).  (“Free to share and use” photo of Bengalese finch, from Microsoft Bing.)

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QUESTION OF THE DAY

What percentage of families now have both parents working full-time?

Presently a record 52% of families have both parents working full-time, according to Pew Research. Some 83% of these families considered this situation was a financial positive even though child-care costs were a concern.

Source: “The bottom line,” The Week [June 26, 2026], page 29

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