White-throated Sparrow Singing A New Tune (1 Viewer)

Bird enthusiasts first recorded the white-throated sparrow's original song, with its distinctive triplet hook, in the 1950s.

Canadians even invented lyrics to accompany the ditty: "Oh my sweet, Ca-na-da, Ca-na-da, Ca-na-da."

But starting from the late 20th century, biologists began noticing that members of the species in western Canada were innovating.

Instead of a triplet, the new song ended in a doublet and a new syncopation pattern. The new ending sounded like "Ca-na, Ca-na, Ca-na."

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thedipper_hk said:

Nice article on white-throated sparrows from AFP.



Rest of the article talks about how the new song went viral and spread east across Canada to Quebec with some discussion on how the new song spread.

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