[wisb] Re: bird ID by sound: best way to do it?
- From: Gayle Davis <humnbrd@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:55:40 -0600
I would completely agree with Ryan as a mentor in the field has been an
excellent way over the years for me to learn i.d'ing by ear - another
thing that has helped me, tho it may sounds nuts, is subliminal
tutoring, so to speak - I will take my favorite CD of Wisconsin birds
and play it thru the night while I sleep - it actually works and I know
of another birder, who is excellent, I might add, who has learned his
birds by ear by also training subliminally - also, in the beginning
(thankfully we had LPs back then :)), when I was also still figuring
out visual i.d.s on birds, if I was hearing but not seeing, I made notes
of what the habitat was, height the sound was coming from, etc etc so I
could hopefully at least narrow it down to one or two families as I
started listening to my recordings -
IMO, this is a tough time of year for learning as few are singing and
not all recordings have the calls also published -
good luck and good birding!
Gayle Davis
Owen, Taylor Cty
On 1/16/2012 8:33 PM, Ryan Brady wrote:
> 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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