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Re: Song Sparrow Singing

Subject: Re: Song Sparrow Singing
From: "Suzanne Williams" scw1217
Date: Sun Mar 18, 2007 11:25 am ((PDT))
I enjoyed reading your post and hearing the sound file, Matt.  The
resulting discussion was very interesting as well.

----------------------
Suzanne
http://web.tampabay.rr.com/swilli41/www
Florida, USA

"If a situation were to be forced upon us in which peace could only
be preserved by the surrender of the great and beneficent position
Britain has won by centuries of heroism and achievement, by allowing
Britain to be treated where her interests were vitally affected as if
she were of no account in the Cabinet of nations, then I say
emphatically that peace at that price would be a humiliation
intolerable for a great country like ours to endure." - David Lloyd
George, July 21, 1911

--- In  "Matt Goff" <> wrote:
>
>
> 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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