Hi,

I find the presence of such distinct and apparently long-lasting song
dialects in *pugetensis *White-crowned Sparrows to be fascinating.
I've started plotting my observations here: http://goo.gl/maps/ncrV
The short story, taking background from the paper cited below, is that:

- Dialect 5 (fast terminal trill after the second buzz) is found in the
Puget trough, including Kitsap, and then up the coast from Leadbetter to
Neah Bay and Crescent Lake.
- Dialect 6 (slow terminal trill after the second buzz - individual
elements distinct) is found on Vancouver Island and on the Olympic
Peninsula east of east Sequim, at least as far as Gardiner
- Dialect 13 (one or two distinct notes after the second buzz) occurs
between east Sequim and Port Angeles


(There are obviously other dialects elsewhere including those with limited
distribution around Oak Harbor and also Coupeville).
These are all easy to hear, although I have also been making recordings.
(The final (distinctive) phrase is often omitted).

All the evidence is that these populations do not differ much genetically,
so we're unlikely to see splits within *pugetensis * any time soon.
In east Sequim it's odd that the border between 6 and 13 is distinct and
not associated with any apparent physical correlate.

Cheers,
Nigel
--
Nigel Ball
Bainbridge Island
nigelj.ball at gmail.com
206 715 8030

Cultural Evolution of Puget Sound White-Crowned Sparrow Song
Dialects
Douglas A. Nelson, Karen I. Hallberg & Jill A. Soha
Ethology 110, 879?908 (2004)
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