Delayed access to local songs prolongs vocal development in dialect populations of brown-headed cowbirds

Article Abstract:

A study of brown-headed cowbirds in the eastern Sierra Nevada examined vocal ontogeny in three adjacent dialects: Mammoth, Convict, and Round Valley. In all three dialects, development of flight whistles (FW) and perched songs (PS) was incomplete among yearlings. The results of the study support a model of the stages of vocal development in which the repertoire of flight whistles and perched songs is not fully developed until the second breeding season, after which the repertoire is likely to remain stable. That yearling cowbirds have not yet developed the full repertoire may play a role in their low level of reproductive success.

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Singing behavior, song types on their wintering grounds and the question of leap-frog migration in Puget Sound white-crowned sparrows

Article Abstract:

A study on avian biology focused on the singing behavior of Zonotrichia leucophrys pugetensis while in their California wintering grounds. A comparison between the syllables in overwintering bird songs and the syllables in songs that were previously recorded while in their breeding grounds was conducted to identify the dialectal populations' wintering grounds. Spontaneous singing, which was recorded every month, increased in February and decreased in December.

Natural history, Animal migration, Sparrows, Puget Sound

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Vocal and behavioral responses of brown-headed cowbirds to flight whistles from different dialects

Article Abstract:

Neighboring songbirds often sing similar songs which can result in regional vocal dialects. A new study investigates whether the vocal and behavioral responses of wild brownheaded cowbirds is dialect-specific by testing their reaction to playbacks of flight whistles. It is shown that the greatest response is to playbacks of local flight whistles, while responses to distant-foreign and near-foreign flight whistles are inconsistent.

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