Aussie Finch Forum

I did read of study that altered the song of a zebra finch, but the method seemed quite extreme to me. Each bird was kept in sound proofed isolation, never hearing or seeing another bird, and very little other sound either. I would imagine for any bird this would be difficult but for a flock bird this would be quite distressing.

The songs of the isolated birds that would normally have resembled the male parent was very different, even between the individual birds. When these isolated individuals were put in contact with other zebra finches the song slowly returned to a more zebra like song.

Interestingly, a pair raised in isolation and paired up produced young whose song patterns followed their parents, but again when introduced to other "normal" zebras, over time their song reverted to the normal zebra song.

It seems the desire to fit in overwhelms the individual capacity for change.
http://www.cshl.edu/news-a-features/son ... tists.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 132617.htm
https://www.google.com/search?q=learned ... 8&oe=utf-8

There are definite differences in song between wild and domesticated zebs, but this appears to be a result of size and environmental differences. Zebs learn their songs from their parents (there have been multitudes of studies on this topic), and may modify their song as they develop. There seems to be little/no point in trying to actively breed for particular notes, in my opinion- or perhaps I am just not interested in it!