This is Bird Note.

This is the song of a white-crowned sparrow.

Some describe it as,

See me, pretty pretty me.

The white-crowned sparrow pours out its song

over and over on spring and summer days

and even on moonlit nights.

The buzzy song seems to float on the air

in much of the western United States. At first, you might think the sparrow is just another

little brown bird, but the elegant black and white stripes on its head make this bird stand out.

Now here's a curious thing. Just as people in different regions may have different dialects, white crowns have different songs. Here's a white crown from Washington State.

And now, another 300 miles away in Oregon.

Quite a difference, don't you think?

Once more, one, and now the other.

Regional dialects arise because young white-crowned sparrows

may learn their song from birds other than their parents.

Slight variations get copied until all the birds in that territory are singing the new version of the

song. It's like the old game of telephone. The song changes bit by bit as it moves along.

Listen to more dialects at birdnote.org.

I'm Mary McCann.

Birdnote gives you the sounds of birds every day,

and you get the sights as well when you follow us on Instagram

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