Category Archives: bird song

Mid-July Birds

After a nice cold front passage, the dawn chorus this morning, starting before five, was lovely. Several very persostent and loud American Robins sang non-stop, nearly drowning out the other singers. Song Sparrows tuned up as did Common Yellowthroats and Purple Finches. A ways off, a White-throated Sparrow sang the “peabody, peabody” tune. Then, about 5:30, it got very still except for the quiet cooing of a Mourning Dove. What a lovely way to start a summer Sunday in Vermont.

I put out the bird feeder and suet about six and a Hairy Woodpecker shows up right away with a “it’s about time” attitude. Four finches hit the feeder as does a chickadee. I hear our first Chestnut-sided Warbler and Blue Jay.

On our early morning walk, the dog and I took our time, she checking new smells, I listening for bird calls and enjoying the cool morning air.  A sweatshirt felt good — a little unreal after the 90+ temperatures of last week.  I heard a Brown Creeper and then an Ovenbird.  The bird activity picked up again as the sun rose.

I heard a Black and White Warbler and then a Yellow-rumped Warbler began singing right overhead.  I chased it around with the binoculars and then the camera but it moved pretty erratically.  I grabbed a couple of lousy shots including this one:

YRWarblerW

Down in the meadow, things were hopping in the dew-soaked goldenrod.  Several Common Yellowthroats and about a half dozen Song Sparrows cavorted.  The foliage and weak morning light made photos tough.  Here are a couple:

Yellowthroats love to hide in the underbrush -- and are a challenge to photograph.

Yellowthroats love to hide in the underbrush — and are a challenge to photograph.

There were several juvenile Song Sparrows like this chasing each other around.

There were several juvenile Song Sparrows like this chasing each other around.

I happened to look up just as a hawk, likely a Broad-winged, flew over with a rodent in its talons.  It was being harassed by a group of smaller birds.  It returned, empty-handed, a bit later and I suspected it might have youngsters to feed.  Several Red-eyed Vireos started up in the tall sugar maples, singing their seemingly never-ending song.  I could spot them but they were way up there and moving a lot.

As I headed back, I thought about how precious these days are, filled as they are with bird song and many youngsters learning the ropes.  They’ll be heading out soon — I haven’t seen our Rose-breased Grosbeak pair in about a week and suspect they are easing southward.  I was encouraged, as I poured another coffee, to see one of our juvenile hummers tanking up.  They have a long trip ahead of them.

HummerAW

Drink up buddy, you’ve got a long trip ahead of you.

Tweet of the Day from BBC Radio 4

Sir David Attenborough will launch Tweet Of The Day on May 6th

Sir David Attenborough will launch Tweet Of The Day on May 6th

Birdsong is to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as part of a new series titled Tweet of the Day, which will air before the Today programme for the next year.

From 6 May, early risers will hear a different call or song from British bird species, followed by a story and facts about the tweet in question.

Sir David Attenborough will present every 90-second episode during May.

Other wildlife presenters including Miranda Krestovnikoff, Steve Backshall and Chris Packham will then take over.

Each episode will feature the song of a particular bird followed by insights into that bird’s behaviour and habits. The series will also tell the birds’ stories through science, social history, culture, literature and music, the station said.

Sir David Attenborough said: “I’ve seen some of the most incredible animals on my travels around the world, but Tweet Of The Day is a nice reminder of the teeming world of birds on my doorstep.”

There are 596 species on the official bird list in Britain and producers at the BBC Natural History Unit have trawled through more than 1,000 bird recordings in the BBC sound archive.

But the station must make new recordings of species like the nightingale, the greenfinch and the garden warbler because of gaps in its archive. There will be 265 instalments of Tweet of the Day.

Radio 4 controller Gwyneth Williams said: “I’m thrilled to have birds flying into the early morning schedule on Radio 4. David Attenborough, of course, will rule the roost.”

The series will be broadcast every weekday morning at 05.58 with a special tweet repeated on Sundays at 08.58. Every episode of Tweet Of The Day will be available to download.

Mnemonic Winter Bird Calls

Mnemonic: “assisting or intended to assist memory” is a way that some learn bird calls — most of us have heard the Barred Owl’s “Who Cooks for You?” or the White-throated Sparrow’s “Peabody Peabody Peabody” or “O Canada, O Canada, O Canada.”   Since we have so few birds around, for me it’s a good time to get going on sharpening recognition skills because the warblers are down south, starting to think about heading northward.  At least I hope they are.

So I listed some of the species we are seeing around Vermont this winter and included their mnemonic description and in some cases, a recording.  Note that our friends at Cornell have on their wonderful About Birds site not only descriptions but calls.

American Goldfinch
pa-chip-chip-chip per-chick-a-ree
po-ta-to-chip (and dip {in flight})

American Kestrel
klee; klee; klee

American Robin
cheer-up; cheer-a-lee; cheer-ee-o, whinny
AMRO_song_mp3

Belted Kingfisher
stuttering; non-musical; dry rattle in-flight
BEKI call

The rattling call of the Belted Kingfisher is unmistakeable.  photo by mikebaird

The rattling call of the Belted Kingfisher is unmistakeable. photo by mikebaird

Black-capped Chickadee
chk-a-dee-dee-dee (rapid; higher-pitched than Carolina); fee-bee
BCCH_song_mp3

Bohemian Waxwing
Bzeee-bzeee-bzeee-bzeee
BOWA flight call

Brown Creeper
trill (hp; rapid) always as individuals
BRCR Call

Common Redpoll
a chatter of several sharp, zapping notes; a nasal, rising whistle lasting nearly half a second; and a rattle or trill that lasts nearly a second
CORE call 1 (.mp3)  CORE call 2 (.mp3)

Cooper’s Hawk
normally silent except for breeding season kac-kac-kac, kuck, kuck kuck, kuck
COHA call

Dark-eyed Junco
dit (repeated occasionally); smack (repeated occasionally); chipping trill (musical; tinkling)
DEJU_song_mp3 (mp3)

Downy Woodpecker
peeek (sharply) whinny

Golden-crowned Kinglet
see-see-see- (hp)
GCKI call

I hear the high-pitched call of the Golden-crowned Kinglet high in the trees but can't spot the little guy/gal.  photo by Seabarium

I hear the high-pitched call of the Golden-crowned Kinglet high in the trees but can’t spot the little guy/gal. photo by Seabarium

Hairy Woodpecker
pik (flat) whinny
HAWO call

House Sparrow
chiddik; chiddik (dry; non-musical)
HOSP call mp3

Mourning Dove
hooo-ah hoo-hoo-hoo; chirry-chirry-chirry-choreeo

Pine Grosbeak
tew tew tew, or pui-pui-pui  whistled
PIGR_flight_call_mp3

Pine Siskin
zreeeeeee! (buzzy)

Purple Finch
warbling – varied phrases; fast; lively; brief

Red-breasted Nuthatch
ank-ank-ank (nasal monotone)
RBNU_call_mp3

Red-tailed Hawk
keeeeeeeeer

Tufted Titmouse
cheeva; cheeva; cheeva fer-da; fer-da; fer-da
here; here; here peter-peter-peter-

White-breasted Nuthatch
anh-anh-anh-anh- (nasally); tooy-tooy-tooy-tooy
wee-wee-wee-wee-who-who-who-who-
WBNU call

Winter Wren
varied; complicated; bubbly and busy
WIWR call

Sign up by RSS feed or via email to have future articles sent to you.

Baby Monitors for the Birds

Buttoning up windows for winter is great for energy conservation but no longer can you hear the “toot” on the Red-breasted Nuthatch or the chatter of Common Redpolls.  Rich Guthrie, who write a great birding blog, discovered a simple solution to this dilemma several years ago.  He writes:

By putting a baby-room monitor outside, I can listen to those sounds – even as I sit here at my desk, day, or night.

Now I can hear the distant Pileated Woodpecker calling from the island across the way, or the nuthatch taking another sunflower seed from the porch feeder. What a delight!

The set-up consists of plugging in the “baby” part outside, and the mommy listening device inside. Fortunately, I have a covered porch so I can keep the thing out of the weather.

These monitors are fairly common at yard sales or thrift shops and come cheap. I wouldn’t lay out more than $5.00 for a set.

As a different dimension to my yard list, I should have kept a list of the many different species I’ve heard and identified via the monitor. But I already know that the list is long. I can recall hearing Snow Geese flying over in the dark of night or picking up on the flight calls of flocks of Brant winging up the river. There’s a flock of Canada Geese that comes in to the same beach each evening – usually just before dark. I get to hear them now and then through the night. Other nice nighttime  revelations picked-up  include Screech or Great-horned Owls hooting, coyotes singing away, or  raccoons squabbling in the dark.

It’s so nice to be here in the comfort of home and share the joy of a melodious Song Sparrow welcoming the warmth of  sunrise on a frosty morning. Or to learn that a flock of siskins has decided to stop in for a snack.

Cornell Project Feederwatch folks wrote:

Steve Maley, a master Jack-of-all-trades and volunteer at Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, suggests rigging up a baby monitor for a low-cost solution that lets you hear the birds all year long.

Steve writes, “Cold weather has come to Rochester, NY, the windows are closed, and the bird hordes come to the feeders. Your home insulation keeps you warm, but silences the noisy blue jays, the woodpecker calls, and the goldfinch chatter. But you can still enjoy those bird sounds from your warm living room. Pick a window with a good roof overhang, and hang a $20 baby monitor outside near the top of the window. The receiving unit can go inside wherever you want to hear the birds. Plug in the 9 volt DC transformers, turn on both units, and once again enjoy hearing the birds from inside your living room or kitchen. My monitor has been on since last spring, and the receiver gets turned on only when I want to enjoy ‘being outside’ to hear the birds.”

 

Increase in bird song activity later in the nesting season.

Written by Norm Famous on maine-birds@googlegroups.com

I first experienced a rise in bird song activity while mapping the distribution of breeding bird species inside 20-acre blocks of forest. Song or territorial activity for the early nesting species that arrive inApril and early May such as white-throated sparrows, juncos, hermit thrushes and winter wrens are likely birds bringing off a second clutch, or renesting pairs whose first attempt was unsuccessful. In general, this increase can occur in both mid-June as well as July since there are two different nesting attempts involved.

Song production from species that winter in the tropics (Neotropical migrants) whose populations typically arrive in May through early June (mostly from mid-May onward), slows down after territories are firmly established and birds are well into incubation and gathering food for nestlings.

In early July when Neotropical migrants begin to fledge, the broods wander out of their parent’s territories into neighboring territories. That seems to result in an increase in song activity.

Periods of cold weather in June may result in higher nest mortality causing renesting later in June and early July. This adds to the increased song activity. I experienced this about ten years ago after a very cold and damp June in the form of a large increase in dependent young black-throated green warblers, American redstarts, blue-headed vireos and magnolia warblers throughout August. At the time, I was conducting fall migration counts every 10 days from August 1 through October.

Unmated males, by contrast, and birds attempting to renest during this period will sing vigorously in mid June. Unmated or wandering males are easy to detect when you have all the established breeding territories delineated or mapped and extra singing males show up and wander through the plot for one to several days. It is kind of fun to witness as the established males react, sometimes coming over from one to two territories away.

To summarize, the answer is not simple but after the mid-June lull of bird song activity, the increase is due to a combination of renesting attempts, the breakdown of territory boundaries by wandering broods and unmated wandering males. I am sure there are contribution physiological factors and other causes, some species-specific.*On another note!*

In regards to new unmated wandering males of the same species interring a territories (that is, new birds singing unfamiliar song renditions to the local population), you get a similar reaction when using song playbacks to lure target species into view.

*This practice can cause chaos to the entire local breeding population to both the target species as well as related species.*

I was working on an experiment at Bass Harbor Head on MDI where I was attempting to evaluate if warblers nesting in spruce-fir forest would react to playbacks of songs from other co-habiting warbler species when played in close proximity high in the canopy (e.g., within 40 feet). I attempted this work in response to studies that established that there was a ‘pecking order’ among the some of the spruce woods nesting warblers (the diminutive northern parula was at the bottom).

I suspended speakers 35-40 feet into the canopy (on light aluminum poles with a wire running down to a small amplifier) and played songs of a different species when I had a target male in view.

*Well, all ‘hell’ would break out in the middle to upper canopy. *The target male often looked toward the speaker and pauses or stops singing. However, neighboring males of the playback species went crazy and charged the speaker and chased any nearby birds regardless of species (again mostly warblers and golden-crowned kinglets). Within a half a minute or so, males of the playback species from neighboring territories charged into the ruckus and started chasing one another. I only played 3 to 5 (max) song renditions to the target species). If there was going to be a reaction, I expected it to be instantaneous.

*How large can the disturbances caused by playbacks be?*

Birds from up to three territories away joined the activity (some greater than 100 meters away). From the perspective of the study, this was extremely frustrating because it took over a half hour to assemble the pole segments and raise them through an opening in the canopy before having to wait for a target bird to come into view; the combined time usually exceeded an hour.

Once the local bird population was disturbed, you could not repeat the experiment at that location with 1/4 mile. Moreover, disturbances sometimes extended beyond a half hour (both inter and intra-specific chasing).

Needless to say, I did not gather enough information to address the original question about interspecific territoriality among birds within the same feeding guild, which at this location was comprised of 7 to 9 species of high- and mid-canopy insectivorous foliage gleaners (say that three times in a row).

*What are the implications regarding using playbacks during the nesting season? *

*Using playbacks will create chaos within the local breeding population of both the target species and other species, at least within the same size and taxonomic groups. I cannot speak to interactions beyond these warblers and kinglets. However, bird song is the standard form of mate selection and territory establishment and defense. *

*What happens when there is chaos? *

Birds are more susceptible to predation because their attention is elsewhere.

Birds were flying through and above the canopy for extended periods of time. They waste energy.

If the weather is marginal or the foliage very wet, females drawn to the commotion leave nests exposed or fledglings (think of toddlers) follow adults into the action and are more susceptible to predation.

Think about this the next time you use playbacks during the nesting season. The species that you are broadcasting often contain songs of other species. The temptation to use playbacks increases when the woods are quiet in the afternoon or during bad weather. On a more upbeat note, other than increased vulnerability to predation, the energetic and weather related risks appear less during the migrations.

When casually using playbacks, these disturbances are not typically apparent. I have no reason to suspect that this does not happen. However, when you know the locations or distribution of most the territories of all species in a local population, you can observe the chain of reactions.

I have to remember this when I am tempted to use playbacks to attract a species. I used playbacks while surveying a local population of Bicknell’s thrush along a logging road and observed the chaos among both Bicknell’s thrushes and Swainson’s thrushes. I followed singing and calling Bicknell’s thrushes from over 150 meters away work their way over to the disturbance caused by the playbacks. I did not pay attention of other species in the vicinity. In retrospect, I had forgotten about the study described above.

*Be cautious!*
*
*
*Birds are great!*
*

Norman Famous, Wetlands and Wildlife Ecologist
513 Eight Rod Road
Augusta, ME 04330
(207) 623 6072