All songbirds, more than 4,000 species, nearly half of the world's birds, trace back to Australia. A major DNA study in 2002 overturned the idea that they began in the northern hemisphere, showing that the group arose in Australia and later spread across the world. This family includes lyrebirds, fairywrens, honeyeaters and butcherbirds as well as familiar robins and sparrows. Songbirds learn their songs from adults, which makes their singing a form of culture, and Australian species such as the pied butcherbird sing complex duets and trios.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.