Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Interesting.   To add to that (if indeed it's the same thing), I've noticed that the mourning doves out in Arizona have a different call from those I grew up listening to in Minnesota; the difference is slight, but it isn't subtle and any musician would notice it instantly.   I can try to describe it if anyone's interested, but I won't bore you otherwise.   But the other day I was listening to a mourning dove in North Carolina and was surprised to hear that it was calling not in the Minnesota accent that I grew up thinking of as normal, but in Arizonan.   So are there migrations involved?   I have a hard time believing that I've lived in NC all these years time and never noticed it before, so I have to suspect it's a recent change.   Presumably the birds are identical genetically; I expect the calls are given as learned from their parents.