Florida, Part 1: Recording the Exotic
When I was offered the chance to go to Florida to get recordings of a number of target species, including exotics, I jumped at the chance.
A Veery’s Two Voices
The Veery is a polyphonic singer; it sings simultaneously with both sides of its syrinx. The bird literally has two voices, one from each of its lungs, and it can control them separately. A single Veery sings a duet — and when you slow the song down, you can hear the bird actually harmonize with itself.
A Canyon Wren Mystery
It’s a commonly held conception that only male birds sing. But the Canyon Wren is an exception.
Identifying Eastern and Western Warbling Vireos
Eastern (gilvus group) and western (swainsonii group) Warbling Vireos may represent two species, and if they are ever split, song would be the best way to identify them.
A Dove Detective Story
It’s difficult to take your camera to a local park and capture a bird plumage or behavior that has never before been photographed. But it’s about twenty times easier to make an audio recording of a call or behavior that has never before been audio recorded. And finding out what kind of sound you’ve recorded takes real detective work.
My Sounds on the Radio
My friend Jason Beason appeared today on Colorado Public Radio, reporting on the recent breakthrough in Black Swift research. The producer used my recording of Black Swifts at the beginning of the segment.
Black Swift Wintering Grounds Discovered
Perhaps the greatest remaining mystery in North American bird migration routes has been solved.
Identifying Black-capped Gnatcatchers
Separating Black-capped Gnatcatchers from the more numerous Blue-gray Gnatcatchers can be a real challenge. Voice is a key field mark, but good descriptions and recordings of Black-capped Gnatcatcher vocalizations have until recently been in short supply. We’ll try to alleviate some of the confusion today.
Eastern and Western Blue-gray Gnatcatchers
The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher sounds different in the West than it does in the East. However, the differences in song are not well understood by most birders, nor particularly well described in most field guides.
The Gargling Chickadees
All chickadee species give “chick-a-dee” calls, but only three of them — Black-capped, Carolina, and Mountain — have whistled songs. An often-overlooked chickadee vocalization called the gargle may actually fulfill more of the traditional “song” functions than the whistled songs.