Subject: Re: whisper songs
Date: Feb 24 17:01:06 1995
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


>If jays have a whisper song which they practice, but no true song at all, what
> is their reason for practicing? Furthermore, what network is this conversatio
>n occurring in? I think I sent my previous comment to tweeters, but Al seems t
>o have replied to obol. I hadn't thought of this before, but this could get do
>wnright confusing. I used to get lots of double postings, and complained. Now
> I don't get very many, which is nice, but now I'm not sure I understand what's
> going on at all!!!!!! Are there very many people who subscribe only to one or
> the other? bob o'brien h6lg at cc.pdx.edu

Nothing on tweeters about this yet, but why not? "Whisper song" may not be
appropriate for this vocalization in jays, if that is defined as "quiet
practicing of the song," as is the case in other passerines. This quiet
vocalization is probably not practice but is an end in itself, either
indicating breeding readiness, and/or attracting a member of the opposite
sex, and/or cementing the pair bond. It's done only in the breeding season
and, I presume, is the equivalent of song in other passerines.

It may be that it is in some way correlated with the fact that jays become
extremely secretive in the breeding season; maybe they are shunning the
loud advertising songs of other passerines. If I'm correct, then the
"quiet song" would be sung *after* breeding had commenced, so wouldn't be
equivalent to songs that repel other males for territory and attract
females for breeding.

Have a birdy weekend, everyone.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416