I am driving on a deserted country road in Alanreed Texas when I spot a mal=
e
Lark Bunting on a barb wire fence. I stop the car, roll down the window and
aim my Telinga mic at the bird and wait for any sounds he might make.
Unfortunately the Bunting is facing away from me so I cant see any bill or
throat movements.
It wasn't long before I heard a high pitched buzzing sound. During this
buzzing sound I noticed the Bunting's tail was fanning and shaking. When
the buzzing stopped the Bunting's tail stopped fanning and shaking. This wa=
s
repeated during each of the buzzing calls.
Now I wasn't familiar with the vocations of a Lark Bunting but what I was
hearing didn't seem right for a Lark Bunting but the fanning and shaking
during the buzzing led me to believe I was hearing some odd Bunting
localization.
I later sent the recording to an expert on bird vocalisations and the
verdict was not a Lark Bunting but a Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus
savannarum)! He had no explanation as to why the Bunting physically
responded to the Sparrow calls.
Recording at: http://xeno-canto.org/recording.php?XC=3D83720
Photographs and information about the Grasshopper Sparrow at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper_Sparrow
Recorded at 7:07 am CDT with a Telinga Twin Science mic and a Sony MZ-R50
minidisc recorder with the Grasshopper Sparrow unseen.
Best regards,
Jim Morgan
Prescott, AZ
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