Researchers studied the communication pattern of chestnut-crowned babbler bird from Australia and came to know that these birds communicate in a manner that has not been observed in animals before.

Study researchers from the Universities of Exeter and Zurich said the chestnut-crowned babbler found in the Australian Outback combines sounds in different combinations to pass on meaning. It conveys new meaning through rearrangement of the meaningless sounds in its calls.

Study's co-researcher Dr. Andy Russell from the University of Exeter said the study findings can help knowing that how language has evolved in humans. "It is the first evidence outside of a human that an animal can use the same meaningless sounds in different arrangements to generate new meaning", affirmed Russell.

Lead author Sabrina Engesser from the University of Zurich said that chestnut-crowned babbler rearrange sounds to code new meaning because it is easier and quicker to combine two existing sounds rather than coming up with a new sound.

The bird uses two sounds, A and B in different arrangements. To cite few examples, when birds feed their chicks in the nest they use BAB calls and when flying, they produce a flight call AB.

Co-researcher Dr Simon Townsend, from the University of Zurich said that sounds made by two babbler birds are structurally quite similar, but they are produced in completely different behavioral contexts and listening birds can identify the different.