David Vanden Brink, age 11, of Monarch, Alta., Canada, for his question:

DO BIRDS ALWAYS SING THE SAME SONG?

A bird's song is as much a part of him as the color of his feathers, the length of his tail or the shape of his bill. While some birds change their songs as the yearadvances, with a slightly different tune in spring than the one used in summer and fall, this is actually just a variation of the same song.

It has been observed that sometimes a bird will try to teach his song to another kind of bird, but it's a job that doesn't bring the desired results. This has especially been seen with the cuckoos who have been hatched in the nests of other birds. Cuckoos always keep their own songs regardless of what their stepparents sing.