Willettes representing WOS and Young Birders Fund

Will Brooks presents to ABC

Will Brooks, ace birder and student at UPS, presented to ABC on March 26, 2019, his research findings, “Song Recognition in a new White-crowned Sparrow Hybrid Zone: Studying Hybrid by Hybrid.”

Plumage differences

This project was helped along when Will received last year’s Washington Ornithological Society (WOS) Patrick Sullivan Young Birder’s Fund award. Tom Mansfield, speaking for Andy and Ellen Stepnewski and the PSYBF, said, “Will is a super person in addition to being an extremely talented birder. You can all be so proud of Will, as we are. Will epitomizes our profile of a PSYBF honoree. I know your ABC will learn much and enjoy the opportunity to meet and see Will.” In fact, Will showed a slide of his recording equipment, which he said was purchased with the WOS fund and made his astute analyses possible.

Subspecies dialects

Those of us who attended can now tell you all kinds of info about the songs of pugetensis and gambelii subspecies and whether they hybridize and where. These two subspecies are the two found in Washington and other parts of the western U.S., sometimes in overlapping areas. The sonograms showed that pugetensis has many dialects, but gambelii mainly just one. Song recognition varied as well, a factor in hybridization.

Will m

Recording equipment made possible by grant from WOS Young Birders Fund

entioned that he studied Hybrid by Hybrid by driving his Prius all over the Cascades, using playback of both subspecies and testing and recording reactions. Of course he had the fabled birder story of a flat tire in a no-cell region and finding his car did not have a spare! Luckily someone came by and rescued him!
He showed a map showing where the 10 of 13 pugetensis dialects principally occur. We have type #5 here.

Study sites

After hearing both subspecies, including several dialects of pugetensis, we’ve been educated! We now know what to watch for in appearance and songs of these beautiful sparrows.

Conclusions

Will ended his talk with some conclusions and a list of what’s next for him, including finishing up a few details, tying it in with genetics, and getting the research published in a journal.