Introduction to Summer 2018

This summer of 2018 I am continuing to study changes in song and cultural evolution over time in the Mourning Warbler.  This year 1) recording 2018 songs from breeding males in Maine, Quebec and Ontario, 2) playback experiments measuring the aggressive responses of males to historical songs from my 1983 recordings versus songs of current breeding males.  My study will focus on whether and how the songs have changed over time.  The playback experiments are designed to test whether the historical songs still elicit aggressive responses by males or whether the historical songs have lost their signal efficacy.  I will begin in near Ashland, Maine and then travel to the across Quebec and Ontario.  This blog will contain updates from this field work and day-lists of birds during the trip.