LISTENING TO BIRDS
Birds talk for many reasons. They talk about their location, food, and predators. They let other birds in their group know their locations after getting separated during foraging or sleeping in distant locations for the night. They share information on where to find food for the day or season. They excitedly warn of predators and rally the flock to the defense of a likely victim. Male birds sing to woo a mate, mark their territory, and celebrate new life with song. The parent birds who hang around long enough for fledglings to try out their wings and hunting skills bid the fledglings farewell with songs or last minute tips for a good life.
Breeding season is the time of year when you can hear the most bird songs. Around dawn before the wind has picked up or humans head out nosily to work is the best time of day to listen. If you lie in bed after awakening, you can catch their rhythms and patterns. As you listen, ask yourself some of the following questions: · Is the rhythm slow or fast, steady or syncopated? · Are there pauses or does the song continue? · Is it a whistle, a rattle, a warble or a squawk? · Is it high, medium, or low pitched? · Is the volume loud, moderate, or soft? · Is the quality of the song mellow, raspy, buzzy, breathy, or excited? · Does this bird’s song remind you of a bouncing ball, a squeaky toy, a stutter, a lisp, a gurgle, a baby’s cry, a baby’s rattle, playing a game of tag, or getting one’s “Zs”? Listen for one-part, two-part, or three-part phrasing and repetitions. The Blue Jay illustrates at differing times all three forms. He calls out “Jay, Jay, Jay” in a harsh forceful manner and at other times renders a more melodic “quee-dle” or “quee-dle-le” sound. Birds who repeat the same note include American Crow (caw), Cedar Waxwing (zee), Chipping Sparrow (chip), the Dark eyed Junco (tea), nuthatches (ank or yank), Red Crossbill (jip), Pine Warbler (chee), and Prothonotary Warbler (sweet). Birds who are two-part singers are: Black and White Warbler (wee-see), Black-capped Chickadee (fee-bee), Eastern Phoebe (fee-beep), Kentucky Warbler (tor-y), Ovenbird (teach-er), Say’s Phoebe (pee-yeet), Tufted Titmouse (chee-va or pet-er), Willow Flycatcher (fitz-bew), and Winter Wren (jump ship). Birds who are three-part singers include: Common Yellowthroat (witch-i-ty), Connecticut Warbler (see-to-it) Eastern Wood Pewee (pee-a-wee), Olive-sided Flycatcher (quick three beers), Red-winged Blackbird (conk-a-ree), Vermillion Flycatcher (hit –a-see), and Whippoorwill (Whip-poor-will). Birds that say their own names in addition to the Blue Jay are the Bob-white, Chick-a-dee, Chuck-will’s Widow, God-Whit, Kill-deer, Pe-wee, Phoe-be, Pip-it, Red Knot, Scaup, Tow-hee, and Whip-poor-will. Birds have a slightly differing structure for vocalizing than humans and their body shapes and sizes influence the sounds they produce. The syrinx is the bird’s sound box and it sits low in the body before forking into two bronchial tubes. Special chest muscles influence the tension as air passes from lungs over membranes in the syrinx and vibrate to produce sound. Some birds are able to sing duets with themselves. In addition to the physique that permits the production of sound there are also habitat barriers that influence the kind of sounds birds make. These barriers range from gurgling brooks and water falls to large plains and deserts or forests where sound bounces off trees and leaves absorb sounds. A bird wanting to be heard over grasslands and other open areas is likely to use a buzz sound to carry over great distances and small birds are likely to sing on elevated perches above vegetation to assure they can be heard over barriers. For further details on habitat barriers view the article titled Bird Songs by Gareth Huw Davies at the PBS website. Before visiting a new habitat to watch and listen to birds consider which birds are likely to be found in that habitat. Books such as The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats by Janine M. Benyus can assist you in identifying birds by habitat. Then use resources such as the following to assist you in studying bird vocalizations: · The Songbirds Bible a book with accompanying CD · Bird Songs of Florida by Geoffrey Keller (CD) · Peterson Field Guides Backyard Bird Song (CD) · Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs (audiocassettes) · Watching Warblers by Michael Male and Judy Fieth(Video) · Watching Sparrows by Michael Male and Judy Fieth (Video)
Compare bird vocalizations of birds that could be confusing to decipher. For example, the Prairie Warbler and the Field Sparrow have some ascending vocalizations. The Prairie Warblers rising notes are buzzy and sound like “zee” repeated several times. The Field Sparrow, on the other hand, has clearer ascending notes which accelerate and end in a trill. Be aware there are birds who mimic other birds in their neighborhoods. The Northern Mockingbird got his name from his skillful renditions of many birds. He can be distinguished by his three to five part phrasing and continual run-on sentences. Since he likes to show himself, you can readily spot this bird on tops of bushes, crossing the street to another tree, or sitting in a visible spot on a branch of a tree.
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