Re: [SPAM]RE: [Nature Recordists] New Dawn Mysteries

["M, J, & V Phinney" badgreenbird]

It's definitely a huge year for white-winged crossbills up north here. They
are everywhere and singing constantly (except when I turn the mic on
them...). As I am much more in the range of crossbills rather than Brewer's
Sparrow, I always think of the sparrow as sounding like a crossbill.
However, the pace and tone of the trills is noticeably different, and I
still think John's bird is the sparrow.

Mark Phinney


on 7/17/07 9:30 AM, Kevin Colver at  wrote:

Hi John,
Sure could be Brewer's Sparrow doing the long series of variable trills
but I also wonder if you were close enough to some conifers and aspen to
have recorded a bird in a tree?  If so, I would have first thought of
White-winged Crossbill.  I know they're not supposed to be very far
south but I recorded one sounding just like this in Wyoming once.
Conventional wisdom was that they weren't there but mine was there and
very vocal.
Kevin J Colver