White-crowned sparrows have their own dialects, their own dictionary of "regional sparrow", if you will. In the 1960's, researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area discovered differences in the songs of white-crowned sparrows. Based on neighbourhood, the sparrows had markedly different songs, and held a fidelity to those areas with their dialect. Young white-crowned sparrows do not learn directly from parents but rather from the general acoustic environment where they are raised, the researchers later proved. Thus, because the sparrows learn from their surroundings and because they have a restricted geographic range within the city, dialects form.

For more fascinating information on White-crowned Sparrow song: Madison Audobon






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