Keywords
regiolects
Rufous-collared Sparrow
song dialects
vocal learning
vocal variation
How to Cite
Abstract
The Patagonian subspecies of the Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis australis) is the most morphologically distinct, lacking the typical black crown stripes. Previous studies in northeastern Patagonia had shown that songs include pretheme notes and lack a trill, but we have recently shown that this is not the case in southeastern Patagonia. In order to study vocal variation throughout eastern Patagonia, we recorded and analyzed the songs of about 500 Z. capensis individuals from Santa Rosa (La Pampa province) to Monte León National Park (Santa Cruz province). We detected three regiolects. The northernmost Espinal regiolect is replaced in Sierra Grande (Río Negro province) and between Punta Colorada and Puerto Lobos (Chubut province), by songs with an atypical structure, frequently including a pretheme and lacking a trill. This Northeastern Patagonia regiolect extends to approximately 100 km south of Trelew (Chubut province), where it is replaced by the Southeastern Patagonia regiolect with its more typical structure and different types of trills. Principal component analyses showed that the Northeastern Patagonia regiolect also differed significantly from the other two regiolects in the theme. In turn, the Espinal and Southeastern Patagonia regiolects differed in various trill variables. Notably, these patterns of vocal variation were decoupled from the gradual transition between the typical black-striped crowns and the gray crowns characteristic of Z. c. australis. Possible non-exclusive factors underlying this vocal variation, particularly the trill-less songs in northeastern Patagonia, include stochastic processes, song-learning biases, adaptation to environmental acoustics, and, most likely, differences in migratory patterns.
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