Jan. 29, 2013 — Thanks to cultural
evolution, male Savannah sparrows are changing their tune, partly to attract
"the ladies."
According to a study of more than 30 years of
Savannah sparrows recordings, the birds are singing distinctly different songs
today than their ancestors did 30 years ago -- changes passed along generation
to generation, according to a new study by University of Guelph researchers.
Integrative biology professors Ryan Norris and
Amy Newman, in collaboration with researchers at Bowdoin College and Williams
College in the U.S., analyzed the songs of male Savannah sparrows (Passerculus
sandwichiensis) recorded over three decades, and found that the songs had
changed distinctly from 1980 to 2011.
"The change is the result of cultural
transmission of different song elements through many generations," said
Norris.
Norris added that the change in tune resembles
changes in word choice and language among humans.
"If you listen to how people used to talk
in the 1890s and how we talk today, you would notice major differences, and
this is the result of shifts in culture or the popularity of certain
forms," he said. "The change in sparrow songs over time has occurred
much the same way"
The sparrows, which live on Kent Island, N.B.,
in the Bay of Fundy, can generally sing only one song type that consists of
several parts. Male sparrows learn that song early in their first year and
continue to sing the same tune for the rest of their lives.
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