These pages are an interactive version of the introduction to the Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds. Here you will learn how to visualize sounds and how to describe them in words.

• pp. 6-7: Visualizing sound / The five basic pitch patterns
• pp. 8-9: The four basic patterns of repetition and speed
• pp. 10-11: Changes in speed and pitch of whole songs / Complex series
• pp. 12-13: Pauses
• pp. 14-15: The seven basic tone qualities
• pp. 16-17: Whistles and hoots / Ticking sounds and sharp whistles
• pp. 18-19: The quality of a trill / Burry and buzzy sounds
• pp. 20-22: Noisy sounds / Nasal sounds
• p. 23: Polyphonic sounds
• pp. 24-25: The naming of bird sounds