Universiteit Leiden

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Carel ten Cate

Professor emeritus

Name
Prof. dr. C.J. ten Cate
Telephone
071 5275040
E-mail
c.j.ten.cate@biology.leidenuniv.nl
ORCID iD
0000-0002-4021-8915

I am professor emeritus of Animal Behaviour. Over the years I studied a broad range of topics in Animal Behaviour and Animal Cognition, but my prime interest is in the development and processing of vocalizations in birds. This also extends to comparative research on the similarities and differences between avian vocalizations and human speech, language and musicality. I am co-editor of a book on Avian Cognition and author of the book ‘Vogelgeluiden ontrafeld: Waarom, hoe en waarover vogels zingen en roepen’ (‘Bird vocalizations unravelled: Why, How and about what birds sing and call’).

More information about Carel ten Cate

News

Former PhD candidates

Book Unravelling bird vocalizations – Why, how and about what birds sing and call

Brief biography

I obtained my PhD at the University of Groningen (NL) with a study on the development of sexual preferences in birds. Behavioural development (imprinting, song learning) and vocal communication in birds were the topics of two postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Cambridge (UK), a brief appointment at Utrecht University (NL) and of my Senior Research Fellowship of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, again at Groningen University. Thereafter I moved to Leiden to take up the chair in Animal Behaviour (Ethology).

I served on the editorial board of several journals and was council member of various national and international scientific organizations. At Leiden University I served as Scientific Director of the Institute of Biology and as Director of Education in Biology. I am also affiliated with the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC).

Research

My core research is on animal communication and cognition. I am interested in the cognitive mechanisms involved in the development and processing of vocal and visual signals in species ranging from birds and fish to humans. This includes comparative studies on auditory perception and auditory pattern learning in animals (in particular birds) and humans.

The complexity and variation in bird vocalizations is unmatched in the animal kingdom and gives rise to many questions concerning the underlying mechanisms, development, adaptive significance and evolution. These questions also extend to how bird vocalizations relate to human speech, language and music. Over the years, my research has covered many of these topics. It resulted in a wide variety of projects in behavioural biology, but also collaborative studies at the interface of biology, cognitive science, psychology and linguistics. These aimed at providing insights in the biological origins and mechanisms of human linguistic abilities and musicality.

Books

I was editor of the book ‘Avian Cognition’ together with my colleague Susan Healy (University of StAndrews, UK). In this book, published by Cambridge University Press (2017), a range of experts from all over the world provide first-hand insights into the full range of avian cognitive abilities, the mechanisms behind them and how they are linked to the ecology of the species. Click here for more information.

I am author of the book ‘Vogelgeluiden ontrafeld: Waarom, hoe en waarover vogels zingen en roepen’ (‘Bird vocalizations unravelled: Why, How and about what birds sing and call’), published by KNNV uitgeverij (2026). It is a book written for a general audience, about the insights that behavioural studies (including some Leiden contributions) provide on many aspects of the wide variety of bird vocalizations and how these insights are obtained. Click here for more information.

Awards/distinctions:

  • 2022: Honorary member - Dutch Society for Behavioural Biology
  • 2017:  NIAS-Lorentz Theme Group Fellowship
  • 2007: Visiting Professor, Psychology, Newcastle University, UK
  • 2007: Fellow, Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences and Humanities (NIAS)
  • 1999: Elected Honorary Fellow, American Ornithologists’ Union 
  • 1988: Niko Tinbergen Preiss, German Ethological Society

Outreach & In the news

I have written several popular articles about my own work and related subjects. Every year I give talks for a wide variety of audiences. I regularly contribute to radio- and television programs and get interviewed for newspapers, journals and popular magazines about our own work or other animal behaviour studies.

Links:

Professor emeritus

  • Faculty of Science
  • IBL
  • Animal Sciences

Work address

Sylvius
Sylviusweg 72
2333 BE Leiden

Contact

Publications

Activities

  • No relevant ancillary activities
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