The learning ability of female Bullfinches is less than the males' and they learn only a few motifs of the male parent's song, but when they become 'betrothed' they acquire elements of their partner's song so that the song is a mixture of elements from both. If a female pairs again after losing her mate she learns nothing from his song. As the female sings scarcely at all during and immediately after breeding the young do not learn her song.

Thus the learning of songs in this species is dependent on an 'emotional' bond which may be established with other species. This is the basis of the capacity shown by parrots and some other birds to learn human speech and other sounds (p. 56, A Study of Bird Song, Edward A. Armstrong).