House finch song on Cape Cod: Cultural evolution in a colonizing bird species.
Item
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Title
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House finch song on Cape Cod: Cultural evolution in a colonizing bird species.
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Identifier
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AAI9510640
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identifier
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9510640
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Creator
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Burchsted, Albert Ernest.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Paul C. Mundinger
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Date
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1994
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Biology, Zoology
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Abstract
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The recent introduction of the House Finch into the north-east United States generated a natural experiment in the cultural evolution of bird song. Cape Cod was colonized by finches dispersing from a rich cultural heritage in metropolitan New York and coastal New England. Distributions of songs differed from those previously described for metropolitan New York. Some populations on the cape sang song patterns that were similar to those of several described institutions, while other populations sang song patterns that were unique or derived from alien songs. Song dialects were based on pronunciation and lexical variations. Some dialects were well defined with sharply demarcated boundaries while others were poorly defined with clinal changes in pronunciation. There were extensive regions of hybridization where songs of one tradition were included in repertoires containing songs of another tradition.;The migration routes that House Finches took during their recent colonization of Cape Cod were inferred from song patterns. The process of colonization was complex with multiple colonization events and modes. Colonies were formed (and expanded) by both diffusion (local dispersal) and jump dispersal. Four colonies were traced to previously established populations at varying distances (15 to 250 km) from Cape Cod. Other colonies were satellites of recent, previously established Cape Cod colonies. Several colonies had more than one source.;Established Cape Cod colonies at either end of the cape founded secondary colonies located in the middle of the cape and along the outer arm. Some of these secondary colonies sang song patterns that resembled those of their source institutions, while others sang patterns that were unique, derived from alien songs, or were similar to song patterns sung by institutions that have not been described. There was evidence that several song traditions had been replaced by others in the twenty years since this species colonized Cape Cod.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
