Song repertoires of Harris' sparrows ( Zonotrichia querula )

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Shackleton, Scott A., Ratcliffe, Laurene, Horn, Andrew G., Naugler, Christopher T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1991
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Churchill
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z91-259; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z91-259

The songs of 34 male Harris' sparrows were recorded at Churchill, Manitoba. The songs are composed of one to three whistled notes, all at the same frequency. Individuals sing from one to three song types, each at a discrete frequency. Males are very accurate at returning to the same frequency, both within a bout and between days. Individuals seem to structure their repertoire on the basis of the frequency ratio between types, rather than on the absolute frequency of each type. Males responded to playback of a 3-kHz song with the song in their repertoire that was closest to it in frequency. We suggest that the frequency ratio between song types may be species specific, whereas the absolute frequency of song types may facilitate individual recognition. This species has been previously described as having only a single song type. Our study and other recent work suggest that there is no sharp distinction in the wild between bird species with single and multisong repertoires.