[wisb] Harrington Beach, possible Northern Goshawk, Purple Finch vireo song

  • From: Todd Wilson <maxpaul@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 21:59:09 -0500

About 8:30 this morning I was standing in the parking lot at Puckett's 
Pond, at Harrington Beach, Oz. Co.
I had a very brief look at a very large accipter flying low over the 
field to the north, moving in the direction of the woods on the other 
side of Sauk Trail Rd. It was a first year bird, brownish-gray above, 
streaked below, with a distinct white supercilium, and very large. This 
would be a lifer for me, and given the brevity of my observation, I'm 
not going to call it, but it does seem probable.

I headed into the woods, hoping to get another look. I didn't find the 
hawk, but I did find a Purple Finch giving its "vireo song". This is a 
vocalization I had read about but never encountered personally, so I was 
quite happy with that, and I managed to get a short audio recording of it.

Back at home, doing a little research, I found that Lang Elliot has an 
interesting theory about this particular vocalization. He believes it is 
an aerial predator alarm call. So it seems possible that the finch was 
reacting to the accipiter, that was probably still lurking about in the 
area.

Here's a link to my recording:
http://www.wisconsinbirdsounds.com/audio/purple_finch/purple_finch_vireo_song.mp3

And here's a link to the Lang Elliot piece, with a much better recording 
of the same vocalization.
http://www.musicofnature.org/home/purple_finch_vireo_song/


Todd Wilson
Glendale, WI
http://www.wisconsinbirdsounds.com/


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