I spent some time recording a Song Sparrow today. I think it was
practicing, as the sound and style of the singing was quite a bit
different than I tend to associate with Song Sparrows while breeding. =
(Many years at this time it would be easy to find Song Sparrows belting =
out their territorial/breeding songs, but this year we've been having an =
unusual amount of snow, and that seems to have put a damper on the typical =
spring enthusiasm.)
The bird had situated itself right near a drainspout that had a fair
amount of water running out of it. I had seen the bird in this area
several times over the last couple of days (it's one of a very few snow =
free patches of ground). The small area is a good place for the bird with =
all the snow, but the fact that it had chosen to perch right beside the =
drainspout seemed interesting to me. I was not sure if the location of =
the drainspout was coincidental to the bird's choice, or perhaps it liked =
singing beside the water.
A writeup of the encounter (along with a link to an appoximately 1 minute =
clip of the bird) can be found at:
http://www.sitkanature.org/wordpress/2007/03/15/singing-song-sparrow/
or, a link directly to the sound file is:
http://www.sitkanature.org/wordpress/03-15-07song_sparrow.mp3
I recorded the bird with a Telinga dish, two Shure 183s (using a DIY pvc =
handle setup), and a Sharp minidisc recorder. I suspect there are things =
I could do to improve the sound, and I would appreciate any suggestions. =
Obviously the water was pretty loud, but I tried to situate myself so the =
dish focused on the bird with the dripping water slightly off to the
side. I would have liked the bird to have been even louder relative to =
the sound of the water, but the bird was only a few inches from the water, =
so that was not something I could accomplish easily (even though I was
only a few feet away).
I do have some questions that I'm hoping someone might be able to answer:
I know Song Sparrows (especially young ones) do practice singing, is the =
nature of this practice usually extended periods of singing with only very =
brief pauses? Do Song Sparrows routinely seek out running water to
practice beside? (This one almost seemed to me to be using the water as =
an accompaniment to its practice, though I thought it could have been
using the water to cover up its song as well.)
Thanks,
Matt Goff
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