Twenty-one novel microsatellite DNA loci isolated from the Puget Sound white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys pugetensis.

The white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, has served as a model species for studies of song and reproductive physiology. Here, we describe primers for 21 novel microsatellite loci isolated from the Puget Sound subspecies, Zonotrichia leucophrys pugetensis, which will be useful for parentage and population genetic analyses. Based on genotypes from seven to 22 adult birds from one population, the average number of alleles per locus was 10.9 (four to 21 alleles) and observed heterozygosity varied from 0.50 to 1.00. All loci also amplified products in at least one of three other passerine species tested.