Integrating museum and media collections to study vocal ecology and evolution

Studies of animal vocalizations have generated key insights into the evolutionary and ecological forces that shape behavioral diversity in birds and other animals. Natural history collections and media archives provide a wealth of data that are being incorporated into studies of vocal evolution with increasing frequency and sophistication. Here, we review recent advances regarding the integration of museum and media collections to study vocal evolution and ecology of animals with a special emphasis on birds. We consider how digital archives of bioacoustic data combined with vouchered specimens and other biological collections have improved our understanding of geographic variation in vocalizations, longitudinal studies of cultural evolution, and comparative studies of vocal evolution and diversification, among other topics. We highlight case studies that exemplify the novel approaches and insights gained from studies of animal vocalizations that leverage biological collections.