Waiting for the snow to melt…
This study examined interspecific competition between mountain white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha) and Lincoln’s sparrows (Melospiza lincolnii) through a playback experiment. Interspecific competitive interactions influence avian fitness by affecting the distribution of species and access to resources. Mountain white- crowned sparrow males were played three different songs, a negative control of a novel song, a positive control of a conspecific song, and a treatment of a heterospecific song. The difference from baseline in their behavior was recorded and analyzed to see which playbacks they responded to and this was compared to the birds’ fitness covariates and environment. A trend was found in their Stand and Look response to both the conspecific and heterospecific playbacks, with no change in behavior to the control. None of the fitness covariates tested influenced the way the birds responded to the playbacks. This trend suggests that mountain white-crowned sparrows are responsive not only to songs from their own species, but pay attention to a heterospecific competitor as well. Further study and larger sample sizes are necessary to make these trends clear.
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