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Re: Banded White-crowned sparrow

Peter Pyle
 

I asked Mark Dettling of Point Blue for an update on this project and it is pasted in below. I too have been seeing these banded birds regularly at the east end of the Concrete Bridge - all adults this winter. I presume these are all nuttalli (as opposed to pugentensis) but I don't know this for certain. Cheers, Peter

Hi Peter,
These WCSP are part of a study that Elizabeth Derryberry (now at the University of Knoxville) has been running investigating differences in song between urban (the SF birds) and rural (the Bolinas/Pt Reyes birds) sites. The most recent grad student to work on the project is Ruth Simberloff. Our current lead bander at Palo, Mike Mahoney, worked with Ruth last year and might provide more detail (and pass along the sighting to Ruth). They banded at both Lobos Creek and Lake Merced, so these are their birds.

Mark

At 05:16 PM 1/12/2022, Linda Swanson wrote:
This may be one of the banded White-crowned Sparrows from a research project in 2014 and 2015. 41 White-crowned Sparrows were banded in SF in 2014 (unknown location) and additional White-crowned Sparrows were banded in 2015 at Lake Merced near the Concrete Bridge, and at Golden Gate Park near the Polo Fields.

Here is info about the project from the sign used in the field:
"Summary: We are investigating several factors affecting the song of local White-Crowned Sparrows. We are putting on color bracelets to keep track of the individual birds and working with audio recordings to analyze song and behavior. This study will provide valuable insights into avian communication.�
Researchers: from San Francisco State University and Tulane University
Research Permit #032014 SF Parks and Rec
#GOGA-2014-SCI-0017"

I had the pleasure of being a volunteer field assistant to the grad student from SFSU working on this research project.
Attached is a photo of a just-banded White-crowned Sparrow, Golden Gate Park, 4/24/2015.
Linda Swanson



On Jan 12, 2022, at 3:54 PM, David Webster <<mailto:davisigno@...>davisigno@...> wrote:

Just curious if anyone might know anything about these bands. It's the first time I've come across a banded sparrow. Seen in Lobos Creek this afternoon.

David Webster

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