Latest American sparrows Stories
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online A new study has found male sparrows actually perform a little trash talk before engaging in a brawl to the death. Researchers wrote in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology male swamp sparrows use wing waves as an aggressive signal to defend their territories and warn away intruding males. "For birds, wing waves are like flipping the bird or saying 'put up your dukes. I'm ready to fight,'" Duke University biologist...
Rock sparrows indicate their age and their reproductive success with their songs and react to infidelity with a higher song volume The song of male songbirds is multifaceted and has two main functions: to repel rivals and to attract mates. Females often pay attention to certain features within a song, such as the presence of special syllables, to assess the quality of the singing male. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen and the University of...
When mature male white-crowned sparrows duel to win a mate or a nesting territory, a young bird just doesn't get much respect. Researchers found that older male white-crowned sparrows don't put much of a fight when they hear a young male singing in their territory – probably because the older bird doesn't consider the young rival much of a threat. But a male sparrow will act much more aggressively if it hears a bird of the same age singing in a territory it claims as its own....
While singing the same songs as your neighbors may sound harmonious, research conducted at Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS) suggests that song-sharing amongst song sparrow populations is actually an aggressive behavior, akin to flinging insults back and forth."It's been hypothesized that repertoire size and song complexity is about the singer's ability to advertise their quality as a mate," says lead author Janet Lapierre, a visiting biologist from the University of Western...
A U.S. biologist says she has discovered bird songs can change as a bird's habitat changes. Elizabeth Derryberry said she made her discovery while conducting her dissertation research at Duke University. She said as vegetation reclaimed formerly cleared land in California, Oregon and Washington during the last 35 years, male white-crowned sparrows have lowered their pitch and slowed their singing so that their love songs would carry better through heavier foliage. This is the first time that...
The wide-open spaces of the Flint Hills may no longer provide a secure home on the range for several familiar grassland birds, according to research by a Kansas State University ecologist and her colleagues.The researchers found that three bird species common to the Flint Hills region of Kansas and Oklahoma are experiencing serious population decline in the face of extensive land-management practices like annual burning and widespread grazingThe Flint Hills contain the largest remaining...
Songbirds such as swamp sparrows appear to sing sophisticated, hard-to-produce songs in hostile situations, a U.S. university researcher said. When challenged, male swamp sparrows escalate their vocal performance by increasing the frequency range and speed of their songs, a study by University of Miami biology graduate student Adrienne DuBois said. The findings add to researchers' understanding of how birds use signals to communicate, DuBois and her colleagues said. Vocal performance was...
Latest American sparrows Reference Libraries
The Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) is a large sparrow and the sole member of the genus Passerella. Adults of this bird are heavily spotted and streaked underneath. In eastern and northern birds, the upper parts, wings, rump and tail are rusty and the underparts are white with streaks rusty to dark brown. Western birds have dark brown upperparts and dark brown streaks underneath. In some regions, western birds may have grey on the head and back. Their breeding habitat is wooded areas...
The Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza Georgiana) is a medium-sized sparrow with a slow monotone trill, slower than that of the Chipping Sparrow. Adults have streaked rusty and black upperparts with a grey breast, light belly and a white throat. They have a rust-colored cap and wings. Their face is grey with a dark line through the eye. They have a short bill and fairly long legs. Their breeding habitat consists of marshes (including salt marshes) across eastern North America and central Canada....
The Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) is a medium-sized sparrow and the sole member of the genus Calamospiza. This bird has a characteristic large pale bill and pale wing patch. During times of breeding sdult males are completely black, all except for their white wing patch. Females and juveniles are more sparrow-like in appearance with dark brown upperparts and white underparts, streaking on the back, breast and flanks. The wings are dark in color with brown on the edges. The...
