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Correlates of dominance were investigated in a wintering population of
white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, in three
successive years at four locations along a 400-m hedgerow.
Multiple regression analyses were used to detect characteristics
correlated with a sparrow's ability to dominate conspecifics.
Age, but not length of time resident in an area, and sex, but not size,
both affected dominance. Individuals had higher dominance near the
centres of their ranges, and dominance in a bird's first winter was
related to dominance in later winters.
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The presence of site-dependent dominance in this species shows that
dominance relations observed at any one location resulted from overlapping
dominance fields of the individuals occurring there.
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