Interesting house finch - definitely some cardinal notes in there...
I've noticed this phenomenon a few times myself, with the following species
pairs: Lincoln's Sparrow with Mourning Warbler song notes, MacGillivray's
Warbler with Magnolia Warbler song notes (and vice versa) and Connecticut
Warbler with Ovenbird song notes.
My theory regarding the cause is somewhat similar to yours: the young birds
have somehow learned the wrong song notes during their 'impressionable'
stage of life (nestlings?). It seems to fit because both species in the
various pairs use the same habitat and often nest/sing in close proximity t=
o
each other...who knows for sure...
I like the sonogram notes compared side by side. I've relied on my ears, bu=
t
it's nice to see the song properties to confirm the similarities. I've only
recorded a couple examples (likely poor quality), which are buried somewher=
e
- but I'll try to dig them out for you in the coming weeks.
Mark Phinney
on 6/30/05 6:47 AM, Steve Pelikan at wrote:
> Friends:
>
> Walt's puzzle about phrases from a Mockingbird (what is it imitating?)
> is a context to let me mention one of my out of the way projects which
> is to record birds singing songs that they shouldn't. A NoMo supposed to
> sing other bird's songs.
>
> But a Towhee that sounds like a Blue Jay or (in the example below) a
> House Finch that sounds like a Northern Cardinal is doing something
> unusual. I suspect that this sort of thing is caused by a young bird
> learning its song from the wrong adult. This sort of thing could happen,
> for example, if nests of 2 birds are nearby and the male from one nest
> removed from the area (eg dead).
>
> The HoFi/NoCa example is at
> http://math.uc.edu/~pelikan/hofi/HoFiNoCa.html
>
> I'd be interested in hearing or hearing about any similar examples
> you've encountered.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Steve P
>
>
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