Saturday, May 28, 2011

learning birdsong


We have a mockingbird that sings at 5 AM. Of course he is not the only bird singing but he is the loudest. We hear him in the spring when we sleep with the window open. I think mockingbirds sing for the pure joy of it. I know that what he's really saying is 'look what a fine specimen I am ladies! see how varied and complex my song is! come be with me!' There has to be some joy in that, right? I think the mockingbird is the only songbird that changes its song and it is different from bird to bird and year to year.

(click on the link to hear the song)

Living out here, in the country with so much space around us and quiet, I can hear and listen to the birds a lot. When I hear a song or call I am unfamiliar with, I will try and locate the bird, maybe even understand what it is saying.

We have a lot of cardinals. Cardinals have several songs or calls that I have identified. They have their mating song which is a series of varied notes repeated and they have what I think of as their location peep, a single note alternating between pairs. Like saying, 'I'm over here and I'm OK'. I've heard a third call, but I'm not sure what it means.


I've been paying a lot of attention to the wrens lately, which I'm sure you know, and I definitely know their alarm call. It usually means that the cat is in the vicinity or Marc or I have come too close to a young one. When they were moving their chick around, they would let me know when the cat was too close and I would go fetch her inside for a while. They have an attention call, a sort of head's up, and a three note song. At least it sounds like three notes to me.


I know the rather distinctive call of the red headed woodpeckers that live around here and I know when the blue jays are exclaiming 'intruder alert!'. I know it's the crows when they caw and the hawks when they kee. I know the chickadees when they chick-a-dee-dee-dee, the mourning doves that mourn.

I'm trying to remember the song of the tufted tit-mouse but it still surprises me when I locate the source of the call.


So many others who visit but whose voices I don't know. The warblers, the sparrows, and the finches.

When you know their songs you know who they are even when you can't see them.


13 comments:

  1. So nice - how you pay attention - and try to understand.

    ReplyDelete
  2. there songs begin around four thirty here and i don't mind at all. i usually drift into a half sleep for the next hour and a half and hear their songs. unpacking who is saying what and why . . . well that's a really cool possibility. thanks for upping the samples here elllen. steven

    ReplyDelete
  3. Of course I love this post since, I, too, listen to the 5:00 a.m. Bird every morning. It must be a mock.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So true Ellen, that you can tell what is going on around you by listening to the birds, their senses and sight are so much more acute than ours and you do get to know the meaning of specific sounds. My geese make sounds that let me know someone is around, way before I know anything about it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great post. Yesterday morning, lying in my pit I saw a blue tit on the branch just outside of my window. When it started singing I couldn't believe that I had never been able to identify it by its song before

    ReplyDelete
  6. I actually have a CD to listen to.I like to hear a song I do know, they are in thick leaves this time of year and it is hard to spot them.Not everyone is on board with birding so sometimes you get curiosity going why you are watching up in the air.I like the bold sound the titmouse can make, they appear so docile.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This was a fascinating post because we don't have many of the bird types you included. Thanks, great wake up here at the computer. The Olde Bagg

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's one of the best parts of Spring, all the birdsong that returns after a quiet winter. What a symphony sometimes, when they all get going!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those darn birds wake me too early in the morning. The cardinals have decided to have an extended convention in our back yard. I do love their song, but can you give us a break, guys?! I'm a night owl- let me sleep just a little longer! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. We sure have a racket here :) I don't hear them much in the mornings because I usually have a fan on. I really wish my allergies would let me keep a window open, but I guess breathing is more important than fresh air these days.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Now you have me listening more closely. We hear mostly blue jays [angry lil' birds] crows and wrens.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nice post & I love that you have added the bird songs to the post. Usually the crows are the ones to wake me in the morning. They are loud little buggers!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love being able to tell what kind of bird is singing. And some of those birds just sing their hearts out to find a mate!

    ReplyDelete

I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.