Corticosterone manipulations alter morph-specific nestling provisioning behavior in male white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis.

Plasma testosterone correlates with morph type across breeding substages in male white-throated Sparrows.

White-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) exhibit a genetic polymorphism that affects plumage and behavior in both sexes. White-striped morphs are more territorially aggressive, whereas tan-striped morphs provision nestlings at a higher rate. We investigated testosterone physiology in this species in an effort to understand hormonal mechanisms for the observed differences in aggression a...

Effects of Recurrent Inclement Winter Weather Cues on White-Throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis)

Some Platyhelminths inhabiting white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis (Aves: Emberizidae: Emberizinae), from Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada.

Twenty-two of 26 white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, from Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada, hosted 1 or 2 species of platyhelminths. One species of cestode and 3 of digeneans were collected. Anonchotaenia quiscali inhabited 50% of the sparrows. This is the third report of A. quiscali; Z. albicollis is a new host. Brachylecithum nanum inhabited 43%, Zonorchis alveyi 15%, and Prosthog...

Multiple signaling functions of song in a polymorphic species with alternative reproductive strategies

Vocal traits can be sexually selected to reflect male quality, but may also evolve to serve additional signaling functions. We used a long-term dataset to examine the signaling potential of song in dimorphic white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis). We investigated whether song conveys multifaceted information about the vocalizing individual, including fitness, species identity, individ...

Brain transcriptome sequencing and assembly of three songbird model systems for the study of social behavior

Emberizid sparrows (emberizidae) have played a prominent role in the study of avian vocal communication and social behavior. We present here brain transcriptomes for three emberizid model systems, song sparrow Melospiza melodia, white-throated sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis, and Gambel's white-crowned sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii. Each of the assemblies covered fully or in part, over...