Possible? It might be, but most of the widely published “differences” are too subjective and/or too variable to be of any value. I dug into this a couple of years ago and discovered some details that seem more reliable, which are summarized in the one page file here (also as a pdf via this link: […]
Distinguishing Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireos by song: Is it possible? Read More »
This recording includes one song of Cerulean Warbler and one of Black-throated Blue Warbler. Can you tell them apart? Distinguishing Black-throated Blue Warbler and Cerulean Warbler by song is usually not too difficult, even though both have buzzy songs with a more or less rising trend. The typical songs of both species are distinctive, and
A Cerulean-like song variant of Black-throated Blue Warbler Read More »
I’m very excited to be able to announce the long-awaited launch of a new app – Song Sleuth – created by Wildlife Acoustics, Inc. It’s a bird song identification assistant, just a couple of taps and your iPhone will suggest what species of bird is singing. It covers nearly 200 of the most frequently heard
Announcing Song Sleuth Read More »
Song Sleuth main page Song Sleuth is a new bird song identification app, created by Wildlife Acoustics. Watch the detailed walk-through video You can find the app now in the iTunes app store. The Song Sleuth app can be very accurate, but it is also easily confused by extraneous sounds, and that can lead
Song Sleuth tips – How to crop a recording Read More »
Download a free one-page guide to American Woodcock display The flight display of the male American Woodcock has to be one of the most remarkable avian performances in the world. And yet, despite the fact that countless ornithologists and birders have marveled at this spring spectacle, some very basic questions are still unanswered, including this
The mysterious sounds of the American Woodcock Read More »
This is the time of year when Red-winged Blackbirds are returning to marshes all over the continent, and the males are performing their showy displays to impress females and intimidate rivals. You might think the display simply involves fluffing up the body feathers and especially the red patches on the wings, but there is a
Red-winged Blackbirds showing off Read More »
Among the many benefits of paying attention to bird sounds is that they give you an insight into what the birds are doing. Through their songs and calls the birds announce not only their presence, but also what they are doing. One example is the mobbing of predators. Birds give alarm calls when they see
Understanding Alarm Calls of Birds Read More »
The next part of my introduction to learning bird songs is now up (click here). Birds can hear a lot “faster” than we can, however, and consequently can extract a lot more information from the very rapid series of notes. The differences are there, and a Chipping Sparrow does not get confused by the songs
Bird Song ID series continues – Eastern Trills Read More »
Part 5 of my introduction to learning bird songs is now up (click here). Many of the words that we use to describe the quality of a bird song also carry information about pitch and tempo. For example, only sounds in a certain pitch range can be described as whistled, and we tend to call
Bird songs Part 5: Describing Quality Read More »
Part 4 of my introduction to learning bird songs is now up (click here). In the narrowest sense, the quality of a bird’s voice would refer strictly to the tonal quality of the sound. Musicians call this “timbre”, and it allows us to distinguish a trumpet from a violin from a flute, even when all
Part 4: Understanding Quality in bird song Read More »