Adult Song Sparrows do not Alter their Song Repertoires

By J. Nordby, S. Campbell, M. D. Beecher. 2002

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Song repertoire size predicts initial mating success in male song sparrows, Melospiza melodia (2004, background): “Song sparrows are ‘age-limited’ learners; a male’s song repertoire is crystallized during his first winter and does not change subsequently (Searcy et al. 1985; Cassidy 1993; Nordby et al. 2002).”
SONG SPARROW (MELOSPIZA MELODIA) SONG VARIES WITH URBAN NOISE (2006, background): “…that each spring, male Song Sparrows undergo a partial renewal of brain regions involved in song learning and production (Tramontin and Brenowitz 1999, 2000; Thompson and Brenowitz 2005), and behavioral studies show associated subtle changes in song (Smith et al. 1997; but see Nordby et al. 2002).”
Soft Song in Song Sparrows: Acoustic Structure and Implications for Signal Function (2008, background): “Young males crystallize their song-type repertoires during their first year (Marler & Peters 1987) and do not modify their repertoire size or song-type structure after this time (Nordby et al. 2002).”
Song repertoire size in male song sparrows correlates with detour reaching, but not with other cognitive measures (2011, background): “Song sparrows sing repertoires of 5e15 or more distinct song types (Podos et al. 1992; Nordby et al. 2002).”