On 14 May I heard what must have been a Black-throated Green Warbler (BTNW)
singing a very odd song. It was relatively quiet, had numerous syllables,
and sounded as if the bird was being strangled or asphixiated. Today I
heard again what must have been a BTNW singing a similarly odd song. Both
were on the Blue Ridge Parkway just north of Asheville. The first was on
the Mountains-to-Sea Trail about 100-200 yards north of Tanbark Ridge
Overlook and the second about 1/10 of a mile south of the Tanbark Ridge
Tunnel, i.e., as the crow flies, they were about one mile apart.
I'm wondering if in both cases these songs weren't perhaps in response to
another BTNW, either a male or a female. If that's the case, I would
suspect female, since BTNWs are not very common on the Parkway here and
seem to be well spaced out.
Anyone have any idea? I can't send the sonagram or .wav file to the
listserv because of size, but I'd be happy to send them to anyone who
requests them.
It's gotten quieter on the Parkway, but you can still hear and see lots of
birds.
Charlotte Goedsche
Weaverville, NC (just a bit NE of Asheville)
