Microgeographic Song Variation in the Nuttall's White-Crowned Sparrow

Abstract
Intradialect variation in the song of 138 male Nuttall''s White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttali) was examined using multivariate cluster analyses on both quantitative (frequency and temporal) and qualitative (structural) variables. Mapping of song groups revealed local song clusters with a high degree of spatial and the occurrence of "satellite" males located well outside the spatial cluster of their song type. This pattern is suggestive of predispersal song learning and is thus more consistent with the genetic adapation hypothesis than with one version of the deceptive mimicry hypothesis.