Song Dialects as Barriers to Dispersal in White-Crowned Sparrows, Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli

Evolution ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myron Charles Baker ◽  
L. Richard Mewaldt
Keyword(s):  
Zonotrichia Leucophrys ◽  
Song Dialects

Dialect Discrimination by White-Crowned Sparrows: Reactions to Near and Distant Dialects

The Auk ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 452-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana F. Tomback ◽  
Daniel B. Thompson ◽  
Myron Charles Baker
Keyword(s):  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Zonotrichia Leucophrys ◽  
Marin County ◽  
Song Dialects ◽  
Song Playback

Abstract In Marin County, California, the dialect populations of Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli are contiguous, and there is little dialect mixing. The possible importance of male-male interactions in preventing dialect mixing was tested with song-playback experiments. Males of the Limantour dialect were presented the Limantour dialect, Drake or Buzzy dialects (neighboring), or Clear dialect (distant). From previous work, we predicted that Limantour males would respond with equal or more aggression to songs of immediately neighboring dialects in comparison with their own dialect but would respond at lower levels to a distant dialect. Instead, we found that Limantour males sang significantly more songs in response to the Limantour dialect than to either neighboring or distant dialects, although the response decreased with distance, as expected. These results led us to hypothesize that responses to an alien dialect may be influenced by (1) opportunity to habituate to the alien dialect, (2) recency of divergence of the two dialects, (3) recency of contact of the two dialects, and (4) sounds common in aggressive vocalizations in other contexts being also present in some song dialects but not others.

Song Dialects and Gene Flow in the White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli

Evolution ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 687 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Hafner ◽  
Karen E. Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Zonotrichia Leucophrys ◽  
Song Dialects

Changes in Song Dialect Distributions and Microgeographic Variation in Song of White-Crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli)

The Auk ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 568-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill M. Trainer
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Fine Structure ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Secondary Contact ◽  
Territorial Defense ◽  
Zonotrichia Leucophrys ◽  
Affected Area ◽  
Song Dialects ◽  
Song Dialect ◽  
Microgeographic Variation

Abstract Multivariate analysis and analysis for spatial autocorrelation of 21 frequency and time characteristics of the songs of White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli) showed that within a dialect area the songs of neighboring males were no more similar to one another than to the songs of non-neighbors. This result refutes one prediction of the hypothesis that song dialects are maintained because males copy the songs of neighbors to gain an advantage in territorial defense or mate attraction. Historical events were important in producing changes over 10 yr in dialect distributions in an area of secondary contact between two dialects. The dialect distributions changed as the sparrow population invaded a new area where the vegetation had been modified, and the sparrows disappeared from a drought-affected area. The basic structure of the dialects did not change in 18 yr, and the fine structure, measured by 21 variables, did not differ between the 2 yr sampled. In 10 yr the two dialects did not blend to form an intermediate dialect.

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