For anyone interested the proper link for my website is www.birdsongidentif=
ication.com
-----Original Message-----
From: [naturerecordists] <>
To: naturerecordists <>
Sent: Fri, Jan 23, 2015 12:26 pm
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Re: Tool for learning species calls?
Chris and other interested members,
You make a very good point about starting "small" and locally. I've spent t=
he last 20 years writing books on learning bird song and recording bird son=
gs, by way of illustrating my descriptions. My website www.birdsongidentifi=
cation gives a glimpse into some of it. I have already brought it to Ben's =
attention off list. I would add one thing to what you say. Phonetics and mn=
emonics (what the bird is "saying"), are not just telling us "what" the bir=
d is saying. Those who have suggested that you can't describe bird songs in=
words, I would say, are missing this point. These tools don't have to repl=
icate our spoken language. I find them extremely helpful in the teaching an=
d the learning.
As well as representing what a bird "says", they also give us an idea of ho=
w long the song (or phrase) is, how fast or slow it is, or the emphasis on =
certain syllables, as well as other nuances of the specific song. The roost=
er does not say "COC-A-DOODLE-DOO", but it gives us a good idea of the leng=
th of the song, the general breakdown of syllables, and italics could tell =
us to emphasize the last syllable. A short description of its features woul=
d help implant this song in our memory bank.....a handle for future referen=
ce. Even if the particular representation doesn't make sense to us, we have=
learned a lot about the song.
Too often phonetics are offered as stand alone descriptions, with little ex=
planation, and the nuances of the song are left up to us to decipher. Even =
a questionable phonetic (one that "doesn't make sense" to us) may be more i=
nformative than we realize, at first glance. That's not to say that it can'=
t be personalized, after considering what it teaches us about that particul=
ar song, if that is going to help in the learning process. Meaningful descr=
iption and explanation are every bit as important as the actual phonetic pr=
esented, if we are going to understand what the bird is "saying".
Sorry if I rambled here. I do have a special interest in this topic.
All the best,
Ernie Jardine
-----Original Message-----
From: 'Chris Harrison' [naturerecordists] <naturerecord=
>
To: naturerecordists <>
Sent: Fri, Jan 23, 2015 9:58 am
Subject: [Nature Recordists] Re: Tool for learning species calls?
Ben,
The problem with learning bird calls (or insect, frog, etc) calls is that i=
t is a very personal thing. By that, I mean that what I =E2=80=9Chear=E2=
=80=9D in a particular bird=E2=80=99s call may be very different than what =
you =E2=80=9Chear=E2=80=9D. I have had to do this with amphibian calls for=
various areas and realized pretty quickly that descriptions in books or on=
line that other people write just don=E2=80=99t make sense to me. Now that=
I am very familiar with the calls of the frogs in my area, I=E2=80=99m alw=
ays surprised by other people=E2=80=99s descriptions of them.
That said, the Peterson CD series =E2=80=9CBirding by Ear=E2=80=9D are supp=
osed to be pretty useful as a framework to get you started. I don=E2=80=99=
t own them, but have had them recommended by other b irders.
If I wanted to set about to learn bird calls, I would start off by finding =
out what the 20 or 30 most common species in my area/yard/nearby park were.=
A local Audubon society or ebird.org would be great sources for that info=
rmation if you don=E2=80=99t already know the local avifauna. Then I would=
listen to their a variety of recordings of their calls and figure out my o=
wn personal description of what they sound like. Then test yourself by get=
ting outside. It won=E2=80=99t take long to learn the commonest stuff. Th=
en when you hear something you don=E2=80=99t know, you can research it, fig=
ure out what it was and add it to you known list. Carrying a little pocke=
t recorder would be helpful here. I think this way is the most effective w=
ay of learning calls.
A couple of very useful resources wou ld be Cornell=E2=80=99s All About Bir=
ds website (www.allaboutbirds.org) which has recordings of most species (as=
suming you are in North America ?) or the wonderful xeno-canto.org website =
with recordings from all over the world including sonograms. The xeno-can=
to recordings are creative commons licenses so you could download them and =
make your own personal playlists to help you learn just the species that oc=
cur around you.
The real key is to personalize it. Just because someone else tells you a b=
ird sounds like it is saying =E2=80=9CWho-cooks-for-you=E2=80=9D doesn=E2=
=80=99t help if that isn=E2=80=99t what you hear in the call. You need to =
make up your own personal tools.
Good luck. It is an intimidating task from the outset, but it is doable. =
I know a lot of folks who kno w a lot of their local bird calls.
Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX
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