SCIENTIST WINS $100,000 PRIZE FOR DECODING ZEBRA FINCH CALLS

Dr Julie Elie at the University of California, Berkeley, has won the 2026 Coller-Dolittle prize for two-way interspecies communication, receiving $100,000 for her work decoding zebra finch vocabulary. Elie identified 11 core calls used by zebra finches and determined their meanings through over a decade of observation and analysis. Her research revealed how the birds announce their identity and current activity, and recognise one another through individual vocal signatures. The work also found that birds sometimes confused calls with similar meanings more readily than those sharing similar sounds.

Elie selected zebra finches as her research subject because their vocal behaviour produces substantial data for analysis. She observed and recorded the sounds the birds produced, classifying each call according to the situation and the individual bird that made it. Machine learning techniques were then applied to analyse what information the calls encoded. Elie subsequently conducted tests in which zebra finches were played various calls from their repertoire; some calls were followed by seed rewards, and the birds learned to tap a button to skip unrewarding calls.

Prof Yossi Yovel, a zoologist at Tel Aviv University and chair of the prize panel, described Elie's work as marking "a key moment in the field". The Coller-Dolittle prize was launched in 2024 by the Jeremy Coller Foundation in partnership with Tel Aviv University to recognise advances in animal communication research. The foundation has also established a separate $10m grand prize for achieving two-way human-animal communication. Elie stated she hoped her research represented progress towards enabling human communication with animals.