I think the predawn song subject is interesting and presents many unanswered
questions. My experience with Cassin's predawn song, or is it calls, is
unfortunately limited to my back yard in Prescott. For the past 3 or 4 years I
have had a single Cassin's Kingbird doing predawn vocalizations from the
cottonwood tree in my backyard. And each year the vocalizations sound about the
same. Will I have one again this year, maybe.
I have checked around my neighborhood for other predawn Cassin's vocalizations
and have yet to find one. So is my backyard Cassin's the same bird each year,
or are there different ones?
We have numerous Cassin's and Western Kingbird's nesting in the neighborhood
and surrounding area so these predawn vocalizations are probably present in
other nearby places, but as I said earlier I have yet to find any.
As Scott Connop mentioned, visual identification is all but impossible. However
in this particular case the vocalization is, in my mind anyway, unquestionably
Cassin's.
Kevin Colver has shared some of his extensive knowledge of kingbirds with us. I
know many in the group have experience with predawn vocalizations that they may
be willing to share.
Jim Morgan
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