[obol] "interchangeabgle" songs, Macs & Yellowthroats

[Jay Withgott]

Hi Larry --  I haven't been following the whole discussion closely, 
but with my bird, the plumage (seen well) was perfect for a Mac, with 
no trace of Yellowthroat, so I guess in this particular case I might 
lean toward a young bird learning the song of a neighbor of a 
different species rather than its own species. One could imagine a 
scenario whereby there's only one Mac nest in a given clearcut, but 
at least one Yellowthroat pair around, and maybe the parental male 
Mac dies before the youngster's song-learning window, and all the 
young bird keeps hearing is the neighboring yellowthroat?.....  Fun 
speculation, anyway...


At 4:43 PM -0700 5/13/07, Larry Mcqueen wrote:
>Fascinating.  I presume we're all thinking the birds singing the 
>wrong songs are not imitators, but maybe hybrids? 
>
>Larry
>
>
>From: obol-bounces at lists.oregonstate.edu 
>[mailto:obol-bounces at lists.oregonstate.edu] On Behalf Of Jay Withgott
>Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2007 1:39 PM
>To: OBOL
>Subject: [obol] "interchangeabgle" songs, Macs & Yellowthroats
>
>
>In response to Larry McQueen's 10 May posting:  "...I have heard 
>some yellowthroats with songs
>confusingly like McGillivray's, but never the reverse," and other 
>postings re: song mimicry and/or similar songs....
>
>... Same here.  Until ...  On 11 May while scouting for our Columbia 
>County big day, I heard a typical "chu-witchity-witchity-witch" song 
>of a Common Yellowthroat emanating from a clearcut in Washington 
>County.  Except that when I looked over in that direction, it turned 
>out to be a perfectly-plumaged male MacGillivray's Warbler, singing 
>its little heart out, perched in full sun on a telephone wire.  Had 
>I not seen it, I wouldn't have believed it wasn't a yellowthroat.
>
>Jay W
>
>
>
>
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