Bird songs and calls

Singing Marsh Wren, Forest Grove, Oregon 2 June 2011 by Greg Gillson.

 

Listen. Do you hear it?

No, because this is a photo without sound. But I hear it in my mind.

Here's a link to a sample song of Marsh Wren.

O, what a quiet world this would be without birds! Well, quiet except for human-made sounds. When we think of the sounds of nature, we usually include the calls of birds.

Many birders have trouble identifying bird songs and calls. No wonder; it takes just as much (or more) work than learning to identify birds by sight. And there isn't a workable "field guide" to bird songs and calls.

However, Nathan Pieplow, on the EarBirding blog, wrote this brief guide to
describing what you hear. He writes "How to identify bird sounds in six easy steps." Great stuff.

This gives a framework for describing bird sounds. Even playing a recording of a bird song doesn't help you remember it, if you can't describe it to yourself--if you can't hear it in your own mind when the bird is no longer singing.

Michele, at Northwest Nature Nut recently recorded 50 seconds of audio at the Ridgefield wildlife refuge, in her post:Ridgefield bird songs of May. How many different bird songs and calls can you pick out? I heard 11 species and in the post's comment field recorded the first time I heard each species and the second count of the recording when it calls, so you can compare. Try it!

"Seen only" -- bad photos, great birds in the forest

The magic of digital photography allows me to brighten the shadows and darken the highlights in order to better see this Pacific-slope Flycatcher. Like most flycatchers, it is easier to identify this bird by its song and calls than by its visual field marks. Photographed near Timber, Oregon on 12 June, 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

Today I visited Reeher Forest Camp near the town of Timber in the Coast Range west of Portland, Oregon.

I love birding in the forests of the Pacific NW--especially during the breeding season when nearly every bird is singing. Non-stop.

Because it is so hard to see in the deep forest--dark with blinding shafts of golden light piercing through--more birds are heard than seen. Many more. Photography is just about impossible in harsh light and deep shadows with most birds high above you in the canopy backlit. I have one flycatcher photo to share, but most will go in the digital trash bin.

Some people, when writing out their list of birds detected from their birding day in the field, mark some of their detections with the comment "heard only" to indicate they did not actually see the bird. On my trip today I kept track and have just the opposite to report. Most of my birds were heard and identified first and seen later, if at all.

To see what I mean, here is today's list, broken out.

Saturday, June 12, 2010
Timber, Washington County.
Primarily Reeher Forest Camp, walking new 2 mile loop ("Triple C Trail") through forest and clear cut. Also drove to top of Round Top Mountain and birded road sides.

Seen only (not heard)
Turkey Vulture 1
Rufous Hummingbird 2
Violet-green Swallow 1

Identified optically first, then heard
American Robin 4
American Dipper 2

Identified by call or song first, then later saw at least one individual well enough to identify by sight
Sooty Grouse 2 (saw 1)
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Band-tailed Pigeon 50 (saw 35)
Northern Pygmy-Owl 1
Red-breasted Sapsucker 4 (saw 1)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 25 (saw 1)
Gray Jay 2
Steller's Jay 4 (saw 2)
Common Raven 4
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 30 (saw 20)
Red-breasted Nuthatch 6 (saw 3)
Brown Creeper 12 (saw 2)
House Wren 8 (saw 3)
Golden-crowned Kinglet 6 (saw 1)
Orange-crowned Warbler 8 (saw 4)
Hermit Warbler 15 (saw 4)
MacGillivray's Warbler 7 (saw 2)
Willson's Warbler 10 (saw 6)
Western Tanager 8 (saw 3)
Spotted Towhee 7 (saw 2)
Song Sparrow 6 (saw 3)
White-crowned Sparrow 12 (saw 7)
Dark-eyed Junco 10 (saw 7)
Black-headed Grosbeak 8 (saw 3)
Evening Grosbeak 15 (saw 8)

Identified by call or song and not seen, or not seen well enough to identify by sight alone
Common Nighthawk 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher 6
Willow Flycatcher 8
Hammond's Flycatcher 3
Warbling Vireo 35
Bewick's Wren 1
Winter Wren 4
Swainson's Thrush 20
Varied Thrush 5
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Purple Finch 2
Red Crossbill 25
American Goldfinch 1

Notice above that some of the most abundant birds were "heard only." Even when I did see birds, I heard far more than I saw.

See how many birds I would have missed if songs and calls weren't part of the "field marks" I have memorized?

What an empty place the forest would appear if I couldn't identify the birds I heard.

How do you go about learning calls and songs? Anyone who can hear can learn bird calls and songs. Go birding in the forest more. Track down any unfamiliar song or call you hear. Watch it sing and remember. Use mnemonics or whatever works best for you. Start small. You already know crow and killdeer and several others, right? Learn one or two a day--don't confuse yourself with too many. Start in your own backyard. Review. Have fun!

What bird is that?... Questions and answers

Send your queries about Pacific Northwest bird identification or behavior or other topics. I'll do my best to figure out what you saw. I'll do some research. Then I'll write an article to answer your question. If you have a certain question, no doubt others will, too, and appreciate knowing the answer. My goal will be to do one Q & A article each week, answering all the questions I receive that week. I'll just use your first name and city in my answers. If you send photos I will likely use them (perhaps cropping and adjusting exposure for the web) so others can see what you are seeing.

Send questions to me using this link: PNWBB Q & A

This week's questions seem to have repeating themes. All four questions this week came from Washington, two from Bellingham, two were American Robins, and two were birds nesting in evergreen wreaths on the front door!

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Question: "Our fresh Christmas [wreath] did great through the winter so we left it hanging on our front door. About 3 to 4 weeks ago I noticed activities of a robin around the wreath. I thought it was picking up tweaks to build its nest until later I found out that it was actually building a nest on the Wreath. There were 3 eggs in the nest and the mother bird has been with them at times... We restrained from using our front door but. The garage door is located in the front of the house. Every time the garage door opens and closes it still alarms the bird and it flies away. With the bird being gone so often and at times for a prolonged period of time would the eggs hatch? I thought about bringing the nest with the wreath to show my daughter's kindergarten class. I hesitated because she hasn't given up her eggs yet. Sound pretty silly questions but please educate me on this. Thank you!"

A mom in Olympia, WA

Answer: Robins are quite tolerant of human disturbance. Once the eggs are laid the mother bird will be less likely to leave the nest. You are correct, though, that the eggs may fail if they cool off too much while the adults are flushed away from their nest. Robins may attempt to renest up to 3 times in a season. It is their way of assuring offspring as, on average, only 2 nestlings live to adulthood to replace the parents every 4-6 years or so--the average life span of an adult bird. One thing to keep in mind, though. It is illegal to possess the nest, eggs, feathers, or body of birds in the US without a license. Thus, taking the old nest to your child's school, while an excellent nature lesson, is a bad citizen lesson! Perhaps you can find a volunteer at a local Audubon Society that has the proper permits and collection for a fun school assembly show-and-tell.

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Question: "Hi Greg - I have a wreath on my front porch a small brown/beige bird has made a nest in. There are three blue eggs in the nest. Is there any way to identify what kind of bird it is? Thanks."

Linda in Seattle, WA

Answer: I believe your bird--if not an American Robin as above--is the House Finch. The female is all brown, while the male has a red forehead and breast. The eggs will hatch about 3 weeks after they are laid and the young will leave the nest about 3 weeks after that. See: In the backyard... House Finch.

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Question: "I live in Bellingham and have heard a distinct pre dawn song for years. I used to listen it when I was burning the midnight oil in college, when I heard it I knew I needed to kick it up a notch to complete my paper. Recently I was walking to my car at 4:30 and noted the same measured warble. What bird would most likely produce this pre-dawn song in this area? I wish I had a recording of it but I don't."

W in Bellingham, Washington

Answer: The earliest riser and one of the first singers in spring, is the American Robin. See: In the backyard... American Robin. You can find a recording of the song on the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's web site: All about birds: American Robin. Another bird that might sing early in the pre-dawn in April is White-crowned Sparrow.

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Question: "Can you help identify a bird for us? We live in a rural area outside Bellingham and have several different types of birds from small to the larger Robins and even ducks and some geese. The bird in question is a "robin" sized greyish bird, that looks in many ways like a dove, with a distinctive black bib on its chest and robin red colors under its wings."

David outside Bellingham, WA

Answer: David, your bird is In the backyard... Northern Flicker.