After getting the songs uploaded to my iTunes, I just selected some of the groups of birds - like warblers or sparrows - and listened to all of them, retaining nothing only to get more confused.
For round 2 I decide to attack the task with more method to the madness. I asked my very patient birding mentor, Bruce, if he could get me a short list of some of the migrants that I might expect to see the following week. That way, I could try to listen to those calls, become familiar with them and potentially be able to pick them out in the coming week or two. Of the 21 birds that made my new and improved list, I felt confident in about 5 (!) of them when I took to the woods with Bruce that weekend. It turns out that knowing a song from a recording and *actually* picking that song out in a forest of chatty birds are two totally separate monsters. But, after just an hour or two out in the woods, I was beginning to feel more confident with some of the more common migrants with distinctive calls like yellow warblers and blue-winged warblers. And I also realized that cardinals and titmice are much too chatty for my liking :) Particularly frustrating in their similarity is the American Robin, Scarlet Tanager and Rose-breasted Grosbeak trifecta. I start to think I have these guys all figured out, then I hear one I'm sure is a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and it turns out to be an American Robin :(
Overall, I really like being able to listen to the forest and get some idea of the birds that are singing in the trees. Being able to make some time to get out in the woods frequently also gives me a chance to keep hearing the same birds over and over, increasing my chances of actually being able to recognize their calls when I hear them. I will admit I was *super* intimidated at the idea of being able to learn all the different songs of so many birds, but breaking up the calls into some manageable groups has proved to be very helpful.
The bottom line is that I am well on my way to being able to ID birds by sound (YAY!), and with a lifer list of 38 birds for this month (and it's only the 9th!), learning their songs is proving to be a very helpful way to keep all these new birds straight!
Happy Birding!
3 comments:
"Birding by ear" is challenging and very rewarding. There are some species I rarely actually see, but can identify by sounds alone, such as Yellow-breasted Chat.
Listening to recordings is good. I used to play cassettes of birdsong (yes, I'm old) as I went to sleep at night.
However, you are training yourself for one particular bird's song and dialect. Depending upon where it was recorded it may not sound exactly like the one in your neck of the woods. Plus, most species have a number of different songs and calls.
The best way to learn is to go into the field with experienced birders who know how to identify by sound and can point out the critical structures of the sound to listen for. I also took a class on this, which included field time, that was very helpful.
Bill! Thanks for your great comment! (so sorry I just noticed it :)
I'm finding that I really need someone to explain to me what to listen for in the songs that sound similar. The two birdsong CD's I have on my iPod, Peterson's and Stokes, don't go through and explain anything about the songs, they just play them. When I went birding this weekend with some Traverse City birders, they had really great mnemonics (sp?) for remembering certain songs. Experience is key :)
I was confused more than once this past weekend by songs I thought were new birds and it turned out it was a Blue Jay! They make lots of sounds I didn't know about.
Just gonna have to put more time in in the woods, darn! ;)
Very enjoyable post. I can definitely relate. I think I have Listen...exia in regard to birding by ear. So many similar sounds that throw you, as you said. But oh so rewarding when you nail that sound and see the bird you thought you heard :) I only know minimal amount of birds by sound and am envious of those who can easily identify birds by ear. Great suggestions in this post to increase my numbers.
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