Song-type matching in the song sparrow

Abstract

Song playback to song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) in a resident population in Washington state showed that the tendency of birds to respond with the same song type (match) depended on the identity of the singer. Matching rates were high to 'self song (60%) and 'stranger' song (50%) and low to 'neighbor' song (20%, not significantly above chance level). The higher matching rate to stranger song was particularly interesting, since the neighbor test songs were generally more similar to the subjects' songs than were the stranger test songs (the self songs, of course, were the most similar). The importance of the neighbour–stranger contrast, in addition to song similarity, in eliciting song matching confirms similar conclusions from earlier studies on the great tit (Parus major) and western meadowlark (Sturna neglecta).