The question of dialects in the songs of white-throated sparrows

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Four samples of songs from white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, of coastal New Brunswick show considerable individuality in sequences of whistled syllable patterns. Sequentially, most of the information occurs in the second and third syllables which correlates with a shift of frequency in these positions. The shifts in relative pitch in the first and second positions relate to the repetition of the first class of syllable.The results indicate that dialects are not evident among these samples, although there are differences evident between them and other areas in North America. Playback experiments confirm the lack of local identity on the songs and reaffirm an earlier claim of individual identity. The large amount of sequential information and the correlation of certain variables in the songs suggest that identification of the species and individuals may result from all variables together.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: