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Re: DNA and Willow Flycatcher




On Mon, 9 Jul 2001, Jack Peachey wrote:

> 	Putting the focus where it belongs-to the case at CawCaw, it is probably
> too late now, but perhaps the songs could have been taped and a sonogram
> made of the songs and compared to willow and alder sonograms. Wouldn't that
> go a long way to clarify whether the same empid really can and does sing
> both songs? 

It sure would, and the results could be pretty exciting.  Regardless of
what it says about the species status of Willow and Alder, such an
individual would call into question what is pretty much an article of
faith among people who study bird song - the rigid development of
species-typical song in that particular group of birds. Whether the bird
singing both songs was a hybrid (or intergrade, if you think there's just
one species), or just an abberrant individual, it would open up some very
interesting questions. [And you might be able figure out if it was from
hybrid origin from ....a DNA test :).  Although that might be a couple
years's work - they don't sell kits for that kind of thing.]

To us science geeks, there's nothing better than having your assumptions
conclusively proved wrong.  Or, as Konrad Lorenz put it in someone's sig
file: "I like to get up early, so I can discard a pet hypothesis by
breakfast."  I'll be thinking of flycatchers a little differently from now
on, and I do think that getting good recordings/sonograms from such
individuals would indeed be the next key step.

Regards,

Chris

Chris Hill
Coastal Carolina University
Conway, SC