Publication Date
3-1-2000
Abstract
We studied the flight song display behavior of male Cassin's Span-ows (Aimophila cassinii) during the early breeding season. Data were collected on randomly selected male Cassin's Span-ows occun-ing in a mixed honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa )-grassland in the Southern High Plains of West Texas. Cassin's Span-ows performed 100% of perched songs and initiated 97.8% of the flight song displays from the upper parts of mesquite trees. When performing flight song displays Cassin's Span-ows flew an average distance of 8.1 mat an average height of 3.6 m, and rotated an average of 96° from take-off to -landing. Males were more likely to perform flight song displays than perched songs when in the presence of other birds (P < 0.05), although there were no differences (P > 0.05) in measured variables of flight song displays between displays apparently caused by other birds and those initiated without an apparent stimulus. We hypothesize that the flight song display of the Cassin's Sparrow has multiple functions, including mate attraction, ten-itorial defense, and predator detection/avoidance.
Creative Commons License
Recommended Citation
Anderson, James T. and Conway, Warren C.
(2000)
"The Flight Song Display of the Cassin's Sparrow: Form and Possible Function,"
Bulletin of the Texas Ornithological Society: Vol. 33:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/tos_bulletin/vol33/iss1/2