We all know that city life and city people are very different from country life and country people. But would you believe that birds are also affected by the urban/suburban divide?

Dutch researchers have recently discovered that urban birds have a different song pattern than their rural counterparts. Cities birds tend to have short fast songs, versus the slower, longer melodies of their country cousins. Study leaders said urban birds had developed shorter, more varied, higher-pitched sounds so that they can be heard above trains, airplanes and road traffic. Country birds, on the other hand, have little environmental noise to compete with so their songs tend to softer and more melodic.

Pretty cool isn't it?

[via bbc.co.uk]