DAWN AND DAYTIME SINGING BEHAVIOR OF CHIPPING SPARROWS (SPIZELLA PASSERINA)

Abstract

Abstract Songbirds typically have small-to-large repertoires of different song types used in complex patterns over a day or season, but what remains poorly understood are patterns of song use by songbirds that have a single, simple song. Here, on the basis of extensive field observations, we reveal how a male Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) varies its simple, repetitive song to create a dynamic singing performance. During the day, and beginning shortly after males arrive on their territories, males typically sing long songs at a relatively slow rate from the tops of trees near the center of their territories. About two weeks after males have arrived, they begin to sing well before sunrise; during this dawn chorus, songs are brief and delivered rapidly, typically while males face each other on the ground at territorial boundaries. Each male sings this way during the dawn chorus throughout the breeding season, except when his female is fertile. By contrast, daytime singing essentially stops after a ma...