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 > > > > >