Recent studies by ornithologists have shown that white-crowned sparrow songs are affected by human activity and noise. During the pandemic shutdowns in America business districts emptied, fewer cars were using the roads, and the din of rush hour became a whisper. Ornithologists say that when a city’s soundscape grows hushed, White-crowned Sparrows quickly start singing at lower volumes and lower the frequency of their lowest notes.

Studies found that in the past sparrows sang at a much softer level, but as urban areas became more noisy they adjusted. This increase in amplification allowed the sparrows to project over the incessant and increasing background noise, but it came at a cost for breeding males: By raising the volume of their songs, and the pitch of the lowest notes they sang, the sparrows diminished the performance of their trills—something that would potentially make them less attractive to females.

Basically, the wider the bandwidth the sexier they are. According to ornithologists, this gets at a fundamental trade-off that these birds in noisy areas are facing, they can’t be both sexy and transmit their song at a great distance. ~ All About Birds

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