[TN-Bird] Re: Notable Golden-wing Warbler Singing Behavior - eastern TN and western NC

  • From: Scott Somershoe <ssomershoe@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "littlezz@xxxxxxxxx" <littlezz@xxxxxxxxx>, "tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2013 11:51:21 -0500

As I may have mentioned here before, about half of the Prairie Warblers at
Bridgestone Firestone WMA sing a perfect Field Sparrow song with a buzzy up
slurred note on the end.  I've seen and heard a Prairie do this at Catoosa
WMA as well.  This particular species mix up is widespread across the
eastern US.  A new publication in Journal of Field Ornithology discusses
this in Massachusetts.

There is a lot to learn about bird song.  Annoyingly, the more I listen and
closer I listen to bird songs, the more variation I hear and more
fascinated (sometimes confused) I get!

Scott Somershoe


On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 11:31 AM, Bill Pulliam <littlezz@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Primary songs are learned in passerines, and occasional males will learn
> the wrong song or a distorted song.  Back in the 1970s there was a famous
> towhee in Atlanta who sang a flawless Carolina Wren song.
>
> Bill Pulliam
> Hohenwald TN
>
> On Jun 7, 2013, at 11:24 AM, Daniel B. Estabrooks wrote:
>
> Earlier in the year I observed a Common Yellowthroat on the greenway in
> Murfreesboro singing a textbook Canada Warbler song. I think there's a lot
> of poorly understood weirdness in bird vocalizations that's deserving of
> further study.
>
> Daniel Estabrooks
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] on
> behalf of Nora Schubert [nora_schubert1@xxxxxxxxxxx]
> *Sent:* Friday, June 07, 2013 8:05 AM
> *To:* bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; TN-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Subject:* [TN-Bird] Notable Golden-wing Warbler Singing Behavior -
> eastern TN and western NC
>
>
>
> This year, male Golden-winged Warbler(s) (phenotype) was observed singing
> a modified version of a Northern Parula song in both eastern TN and western
> NC.
>
> This individual established a territory at Hampton Creek Cove State
> Natural Area, located in eastern TN on the Roan Mountain Massif where I
> have studied GWWAs for the last 9 years. I would not have thought to track
> down the bird to get a visual if it were not for the fact that N. Parulas
> do not occur at this state natural area during the breeding season and the
> song was very much Parula like but not an exact Parula song. I was able to
> capture the bird and place color bands on it.
>
> Also, this year, a similar observation was made in western North Carolina
> by Chris Kelly (NCWRC biologist) who was conducting general surveys for
> Golden-wings. The observation in NC was made prior to the individual being
> detected at the state natural area. The NC site where the Parula singing
> Golden-wing was detected is not monitored throughout the season.
>
> We both captured the bird behavior on video and hope to compare audio
> files. There is a possibility that this could be the same individual.
> Regardless, this is one of the more recent anomalies I have observed while
> studying Golden-wings.
>
> Nora Schubert
> Wildlife Biologist
> Johnson City, TN
>
>
>
>
>

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