Throw Back Thursday (TBT):

October is sparrow time in Pennsylvania. Migrating warblers have left.  Migrating sparrows have arrived.

Though swamp sparrows aren’t singing right now, the species is famous for their regional dialects.  Over the winter they’ll be exposed to other sparrows with other dialects.  Will they change their accents to match their winter friends or retain their dialects to use next spring?

How do swamp sparrows remember their songs?  The answer is in this 2008 blog post:  It’s Done With Mirrors

(photo of a swamp sparrow by Chuck Tague)