Song repertoires of puget sound White-crowned Sparrows Zonotrichia leucophrys pugetensis

Of 233 adult male White-crowned Sparrows Zonotrichia leucophrys pugetensis recorded in British Columbia and Washington, 25 (10.7%) were found to have repertoires of two or three song types. This proportion is higher than any reported previously for this species. Within repertoires, most song type differences were minor, but some songs differed in theme and dialect type. Individuals sang few renditions of one song type before switching to the other. We believe that the songs in an individual's repertoire have the same meaning, and that multi-song repertoires provide no selective advantage over a single song type in this species.