Singing Behavior of the Five-Striped Sparrow

We studied the singing behavior and analyzed spectrographically the songs and calls of the Five-striped Sparrow (Aimophila quinquestriata). Its song consists of an introductory note followed by one to six, usually two, note complexes (a group of notes consistently occurring together). The same note complex is usually not repeated more than three times; nor are three different note complexes sung successively within the same song. Note complexes within songs are delivered in a non-random fashion, but the types of note complexes following other note complexes vary among individuals. Repertoires of three birds consisted of 159, 220, and 237 different songs and 43, 38, and 55 different note complexes, respectively. From 11,845 total songs recorded from all males, 99 different note complexes were recognized. Most note complexes were shared but several were unique to each individual. Five-striped Sparrows sing their song types many times before introducing others. Consequently, samples of songs as large as 1,000, 1,500, and 3,000 songs are necessary to obtain 90% of a bird's repertoire of note complexes. Complexity and versatility of song performances were greater when eggs or young were in the nest than when no nest or just the nest was present. In addition, Total Versatility values differed significantly when eggs were present and when eggs were absent. The number of different songs and different note complexes sung by each male also appeared to be related to the stage of nesting.