[wisb] Re: bird ID by sound: best way to do it?
- From: Ryan Brady <ryanbrady10@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <anna.ftw@xxxxxxxxx>, <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:33:52 -0700
I would add that you should find a good mentor. Birding with someone who knows
bird songs/calls is among the best tools for learning.
Ryan Brady
Washburn, Bayfield County, WI
http://www.pbase.com/rbrady
> From: little_blue_birdie@xxxxxxx
> To: anna.ftw@xxxxxxxxx; wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [wisb] Re: bird ID by sound: best way to do it?
> Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:05:40 -0600
>
> Anna and all,
> I'll start by saying that birding by ear is not by any means easy. However,
> it can make birding so much easier and is extremely helpful in
> differentiating warblers, flycatchers and birds of the tropics.
> By far, the best way to learn bird songs is, every time you hear a bird you
> don't know, to track it down and find it. If you can't ID it by sight, take
> photos and post them. Someone will be able to ID them for you. Most of the
> bird songs I've learned have been from birds I tracked down and got a visual
> on. I never forgot what the bird was every time I heard it after that.
> The other way is repetition. Hearing the same song over and over and over
> again and associating it with a name. This is perhaps the most difficult
> thing for most birders to do. Many times, I'll see someone recognize a song,
> but not be able to tag a name to it. Nothing beats repetition. The more you
> hear a song, the more easily the name will come to you.
> For anyone who plays a musical instrument, you'll see a common theme here.
> Very often, people who play musical instruments (particularly string
> instruments interestingly enough) seem to have an affinity for recognizing
> bird songs and calls.
>
> Another way that I often find helpful for people is to invent a mnemonic for
> the song. Sharon offered John Feith's excellent CD as one resource and I
> would highly recommend it as well. John has come up with a clever mnemonic
> for each bird song in WI. For example: Common Yellowthroat says "wichity
> wichity wichity" and Warbling Vireo says (to the caterpillar) "when I see you
> I will squeeze you, when I squeeze you, you will squirt!"
> So if you like any of those options, both work quite well.
> The Peterson audio series did a set of Birding By Ear CDs in which they
> separate all the songs into different categories based on similarity. So if
> you like dividing songs into separate categories and working out the ID that
> way, that may also be an option for you. I can't say it's my favorite way to
> do it though.
>
> There is a new tool out as well that puts learning bird songs into a game
> form very similar to the acclaimed Rosetta Stone Language program. It's
> called Larkwire (larkwire.com). It requires an account and beyond the basic
> songs it requires purchasing a song package for whatever region you're in. It
> is still in the developing stages and is fairly new, but it could prove to be
> a most excellent resource once it really gets going. The best part of
> Larkwire is that you can test it out without logging in or spending any
> money.
>
> But whatever method you use, essentially, it all boils down to repetition. As
> they say in music, practice makes perfect. Same thing here.
> My suggestion for you is to purchase a copy of John Feith's CD, purchase the
> complete Stokes Audio Guides (these have just the bird songs on them with the
> only words being when they name each song) and use the rest of the winter to
> practice. Come spring and summer, anytime you hear a bird song you don't
> know, track it down and get a visual ID on it. You'll never forget. ;)
>
>
> Good luck and hope this helps. :)
>
> Happy Birding! --Chris W, Richland County Interpretive Naturalist Mississippi
> Explorer Cruises
> http://mississippiexplorer.com/chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/
> http://www.nabirding.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/swallowtailphoto
>
> "The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first
> material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire
> the composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things
> breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a
> one can be again."
>
> (From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906)
>
> > Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:40:48 -0600
> > Subject: [wisb] bird ID by sound: best way to do it?
> > From: anna.ftw@xxxxxxxxx
> > To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > I apologize if this isn't the right forum to ask this, but we had a bird ID
> > help question. We're still pretty new at IDing birds and are having a hard
> > time IDing by sound. I've taken to bringing a recorder in hopes of catching
> > birds we can't locate and IDing them at home. However, I'm not sure of the
> > best way to try to track down sounds to compare. One method we've tried is
> > to look at whatbird.com and search by pattern/song comparison. So far that
> > hasn't been too successful. Another method is to check eBird for recent
> > lists in that hotspot and listen to the sounds of birds we know we don't
> > know. I tried both these methods today for a bird we heard today at Picnic
> > Point, Madison, with no luck: we still can't match what we're hearing on
> > the recording. Because we're so new, I'm sure it's not a very exciting
> > bird, but we'd still like to place it. Does anyone have any tips for IDing
> > by sound?
> > Any help is appreciated!
> >
> > Anna Keaney
> > Gibson Dullea
> > Madison, Dane
> >
> >
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