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Re: Lake County white-crowned sparrow for ID

Subject: Re: Lake County white-crowned sparrow for ID
From: "Alexia Stevens" curlyblackabby
Date: Sun May 25, 2008 7:02 pm ((PDT))
I like the idea of a vocal "style" for all birds of the same species.  I
think of it as a particular "voice"--for example, you recognize the
voices of people you know, even if they don't always say the same phrases.=

Song sparrows are among the more variable, with each male having a
repertoire of 8 to 10 slightly different songs, so they can be
bewildering.  What have others noticed about variability in the calls
and songs of birds?  Any vocal signatures uttered by one individual?  Is
there an acoustic equivalent of the rare chickadee, crow, or robin with
a few white feathers in its wing?  I am always interested in how to
distinguish one individual creature from another, in order to better
study life histories.  How about telling trees apart by the wind in
their branches...  That last one would be a challenge to record.

As some on this list suggested, I did record the rooster in my backyard
and made him into a truly obnoxious cell phone ring.

Alexia Stevens
Woodinville, Washington


Doug Von Gausig wrote:
>
> At 09:03 AM 5/25/2008, you wrote:
>
> >John V. Moore, you wrote,
> >
> > > Yep..the "tink" is California Towee..not so sure on the Song
> > > Sparrow. Pretty
> > > sure it is NOT White-crowned.
> >
> >Thanks. I listened to some song sparrow samples from identification
> >CDs. They're all different! How can you tell?
> >
> >-Dan
>
> Song sparrows have a particular "style" that they all use. It's a
> combination of the high, clear piping notes and "burry", or "slurred"
> notes, and usually a rapid trill. Not only do the birds in different
> areas
> sing different songs, but a single individual may go through 20 or so
> variations in one performance. They usually sing the same song through
> 5-10
> iterations, then switch to another, then another, etc. But in any
> case, the
> song is a combination of piping, burry notes and trill that taken
> together
> are diagnostic of the species. Also the habitat is a strong indicator,
> since Song Sparrows inhabit marshy areas, and most birds that can be
> mistaken for them (Bewick's Wren, for instance) do not. The Song
> Sparrow's
> call (that slurred, nasal single tone) is diagnostic of the species.
>
> By the way, the Red-wings sound a little odd, are you sure they weren't
> Tri-colored Blackbirds? Do the birds on your recording sound typical for
> Red-winged in that area?
>
> Doug
> ***************************************
>
>
> <http://naturesongs.com>
>




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