More vocal copying by American Goldfinch, Purple Finch, and Ovenbird
After listening carefully to Pine Siskins this year to pick out the calls of other species (see my earlier post) I have run across several other mimics. In early June in Arlington, Massachusetts I...
View ArticleA Cerulean-like song variant of Black-throated Blue Warbler
This recording includes one song of Cerulean Warbler and one of Black-throated Blue Warbler. Can you tell them apart? Distinguishing Black-throated Blue Warbler and Cerulean Warbler by song is usually...
View ArticleTempo, and bird song identification
Part 3 of my introduction to learning bird songs is now up (click here). In this discussion, tempo refers to the overall “pace” of the song, the number of notes or phrases per second. We describe this...
View ArticlePart 4: Understanding Quality in bird song
Part 4 of my introduction to learning bird songs is now up (click here). In the narrowest sense, the quality of a bird’s voice would refer strictly to the tonal quality of the sound. Musicians call...
View ArticleBird songs Part 5: Describing Quality
Part 5 of my introduction to learning bird songs is now up (click here). Many of the words that we use to describe the quality of a bird song also carry information about pitch and tempo. For example,...
View ArticleBird Song ID series continues – Eastern Trills
The next part of my introduction to learning bird songs is now up (click here). Birds can hear a lot “faster” than we can, however, and consequently can extract a lot more information from the very...
View ArticleUnderstanding Alarm Calls of Birds
Among the many benefits of paying attention to bird sounds is that they give you an insight into what the birds are doing. Through their songs and calls the birds announce not only their presence, but...
View ArticleRed-winged Blackbirds showing off
This is the time of year when Red-winged Blackbirds are returning to marshes all over the continent, and the males are performing their showy displays to impress females and intimidate rivals. You...
View ArticleThe mysterious sounds of the American Woodcock
Download a free one-page guide to American Woodcock display The flight display of the male American Woodcock has to be one of the most remarkable avian performances in the world. And yet, despite the...
View ArticleSong Sleuth tips – How to crop a recording
Song Sleuth main page Song Sleuth is a new bird song identification app, created by Wildlife Acoustics. Watch the detailed walk-through video You can find the app now in the iTunes app store. The...
View ArticleAnnouncing Song Sleuth
I’m very excited to be able to announce the long-awaited launch of a new app – Song Sleuth – created by Wildlife Acoustics, Inc. It’s a bird song identification assistant, just a couple of taps and...
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