Draft

Quantifying communication will be done using bioacoustic analysis. For starters, sound is places in the air where molecules are compressed in some areas, and less compressed in others, these less compressed areas are called rarefractions. Sound is a change in air density, so what we hear is compression of air particles. We can measure the amplitude, which is the amount of energy. This is what we perceive as loudness. We can also measure frequency, which is what we perceive as pitch. Frequency is how often the sound wave occurs. A higher frequency occurs at a higher pitch. 

Many animals use sound as a form of communication, as do we. One of the most commonly studied form of animal communication is bird songs. They have been studied since the beginning of people studying how animals communicate because there are a lot of different variations and it is very easy to observe and record bird sounds. In birds, you can measure what is known as the band width by subtracting the lower frequency from the higher frequency. There is a longer difference in wide bandwidths and a smaller difference in short bandwidths. You can also measure the trill rate which is how often they create this noise. The trill is known as a high performance form of communication. There is a trade off between these two sounds becasue one cannot have a wide bandwidth as well a high trill rate, you cannot have both really well. So a higher or faster trill rate is accompanied by a short bandwidth becasue it is too difficult to have a wide bandwidth and fast trill rate. 

Sounds used by birds can also be used to signal different things even though they might be the same sound. In some gulls, they have certain sounds used for finding a mate that are also used when trying to communicate with that mate when it comes to finding a place to nest. They have some other sounds that overlap when mating and then when caring for the young. They have the ability to use the same sounds but interpret them differently based on the context of the situation.