I read 'I Can Understand Bird Language'

Doesn't it pique your interest to hear that animals other than humans also have language, and that they even use context and gestures to communicate with each other?

There is a Japanese person who was the first in the world to scientifically prove that non-human animals also possess language.
His name is Toshitaka Suzuki, an animal linguist. I had been following his posts on X, radio, and YouTube, thinking they were incredibly interesting, so when his book was published, I decided to read it.

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The author of this book, Toshitaka Suzuki, who is currently an associate professor at the University of Tokyo and an animal linguist, chronicles his days researching great tit language, which began when he was a university student, along with various episodes that occurred during his experiments, accompanied by cute illustrations.

As an animal lover, I found it incredibly interesting, and I genuinely love his approach to animals and the natural environment.
What does it mean to stand on the same level as a creature other than yourself?
I will write about the charms I felt while reading it.

Animal Linguistics
One of the shocking things about this book is that animal linguistics is a field of study that Professor Suzuki himself established.

Until now, I understood that animals and humans communicate using words and commands, and that animals communicate with each other using their bodies and voices, but I was surprised that no one had ever researched or proven that 'non-human animals possess language.'
In fact, I realized for the first time that I had only vaguely believed that the animals around me had their own languages and ways of communicating with each other.

As a fellow Japanese person, I am proud that such a revolutionary discovery led to the establishment of a new field of study, animal linguistics, by a Japanese researcher.
I feel lucky to be alive at a time when a new field of study is just beginning to spread.

Refreshing ideas for experimental methods
The moments when Professor Suzuki, then a university student, realized while observing great tits that they must have a language, and the flashes of inspiration he had for ways to prove the meaning of their calls and the words they represent, are very refreshing.
If you read it in a riddle format—closing the book when a question arises and trying to guess how he proved it scientifically—it becomes even more interesting, giving you an 'aha!' moment (a nostalgic term, isn't it?) after reading, so please try it if you like.

For example, what kind of experimental method did he use to prove the word 'snake'?

The answer is,

He used an idea where he played a call thought to mean 'snake' while moving a wooden stick using a speaker and a wooden stick, checked the reaction of the great tits to see if they 'mistook' it for a snake, and compared it to when he played sounds other than that specific call.

Did you all feel even a little bit of that refreshing sensation?

In addition to this, there are various research and experimental episodes, such as an experiment inspired by Lou Oshiba's 'Lou-go' (a mix of Japanese and English), and all of them are interesting and refreshing due to the brilliant proofs and discoveries.
And I also find myself paying attention to the unique and cute naming of the experiments.

There are always hints in our immediate surroundings, and the sounds we always hear and the movements of animals have meanings we just didn't know. I think noticing and proving that is truly amazing and precious.

Operation: Rescue the 'Frog in the Well' Humans!
While it has been believed from the ancient Greek era to the present that only humans possess language, now that we know birds use words across species, create context, and communicate with each other, a mission has begun to rescue humans who are, in fact, like 'frogs in a well' from the perspective of nature, unable to understand the language of animals!
Suzuki's naming is also very friendly and cute.

It seems that part of Professor Suzuki's paper on the discovery of great tit language is now included in junior high school Japanese textbooks.
Learning animal linguistics is the first step toward a new way for humanity to interact with nature, so I hope that more people will become aware of listening to the languages of the natural world through the language of the great tit.

The author's heartwarming illustrations
The illustrations drawn by Professor Suzuki, which can be seen throughout the book, are also a major attraction.

The ingenuity and ecology of the great tit research are depicted in an easy-to-understand way, and the illustrations, overflowing with love for great tits, are incredibly cute!

A straightforward attitude toward animals and nature
I thought the ingenuity and wisdom of experimenting without changing the birds' environment and without using special machinery were a reflection of Professor Suzuki's straightforward attitude toward animals.

Without an extraordinary love and passion for animals, it would be impossible to spend most of the year in the freezing mountains of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, to ensure great tits build safe and comfortable nest boxes, and to successfully complete the task of identifying numerous individual birds.
I believe it is precisely because he adopts the perspective of animals and maintains an attitude of respect for nature as a fellow animal that he has been able to learn so much more about the world of animals.

Professor Suzuki's papers have been published in global journals and highly acclaimed. This book also records Professor Suzuki's deep respect for other ethologists and researchers.
It makes me happy to see their attitude of facing other species with respect and eyes shining without hesitation, as it is the very radiance of human life itself.
There is a story about how researchers become like the animals they study because they engage with them so deeply, and he says he is becoming a great tit himself. That is just too funny.

I am excited to think that as animal linguistics develops, a new world of nature that humans have forgotten will vividly unfold.

Thank you for reading until the end.