Part 5 of my introduction to learning bird songs is now up (click here).Many of the words that we use to describe the quality of a bird song also carry information about pitch and tempo. For example, only sounds in a certain pitch range can be described as whistled, and we tend to call lower-pitched whistles “rich” or “full”, and higher-pitched whistles ”thin” or “squeaky”. Similarly, certain descriptive words tell us about the tempo of the song. Words like relaxed and lethargic describe a slow tempo, and a buzz is just like a trill, only faster. |
 Singing Prothonotary Warbler. Pencil sketch from the field in Arkansas, May 2005, copyright David Sibley. |
|
posted May 14th, 2012; last edited May 14th, 2012 –– David Sibley posted May 11th, 2012; last edited May 11th, 2012 –– David Sibley I’ve been neglecting trees in my posts recently, but here in Massachusetts spring is the best time of year for tree-watching, and today the sun was out offering some good photo opportunities.  Five species of trees in Concord, MA, click to enlarge, and read below for identification; 11 May 2012. photo copyright David Sibley. posted May 11th, 2012; last edited May 11th, 2012 –– David Sibley
posted May 10th, 2012; last edited May 10th, 2012 –– David Sibley
As in the last quiz this one shows warblers as they are so often seen in the field – with just the underside of the body visible. Clues such as tail shape, overall size, behavior and other subtleties can be very helpful with experience. In this quiz I focus on the more objective features of plumage. When all you can see is the belly, flanks, and tail of a warbler, you will have to rely on tail pattern, any streaking, and the overall pattern of dark/light and bright/drab. Leg color can also be helpful. You should be able to identify most species by matching those patterns to the pictures in the guide, and with practice you will recognize more and more warblers from these small clues. With thanks, again, to Brian E. Small for providing the beautiful photos. You can see lots more at his website. ….Continue reading Quiz 36: More Warblers →
posted May 8th, 2012; last edited May 8th, 2012 –– David Sibley
posted May 7th, 2012; last edited May 7th, 2012 –– David Sibley Like a previous quiz this one shows warblers as they are so often seen in the field – with just the underside of the body visible. Clues such as tail shape, overall size, behavior and other subtleties can be very helpful with experience. In this quiz I focus on the more objective features of plumage. When all you can see is the belly, flanks, and tail of a warbler, take note of tail pattern, any streaking, and the overall pattern of dark/light and bright/drab. You should be able to identify most species by matching those patterns to the pictures in the guide, and with practice you will recognize more and more warblers from these small clues. With thanks, again, to Brian E. Small for providing the beautiful photos. You can see lots more at his website. posted May 4th, 2012; last edited May 4th, 2012 –– David Sibley
Most bird vocalizations are complex, and cover a wide range of frequencies, and there is often considerable variation in pitch within a species, making it hard to use pitch alone as an identification clue. Even so, the actual pitch of a bird sound is useful for getting into the right “ballpark” for identification. —>>Continue reading Pitch, and bird song identification posted May 3rd, 2012; last edited May 3rd, 2012 –– David Sibley  A singing Golden-winged Warbler The first post in a new series on identifying birds by sound:To learn bird songs, it is first important just to notice bird sounds. Train yourself to hear them and to hear the differences. Take a minute periodically while you are birding to stop, relax, maybe close your eyes, and just listen. Don’t try to identify the species at first, but listen for patterns and try to distinguish the different sounds you are hearing. Even if you can’t identify the species, just knowing that three species are vocalizing is a very important bit of information and is the first step towards identifying those species. —> Continue reading Learning to listen to bird songs posted May 3rd, 2012; last edited May 3rd, 2012 –– David Sibley Here are five species of intensely colorful spring birds. Can you identify them from just the small parts that are visible?
With thanks, again, to Brian E. Small for providing the beautiful photos. You can see lots more at his website. ….Continue reading Quiz 34 – Brightly-colored Birds →
posted May 2nd, 2012; last edited May 2nd, 2012 –– David Sibley
This level of identification – telling a warbler from a goldfinch from a kinglet – is something we learn to do automatically through experience. We memorize, and actively look for, field marks that distinguish Blackpoll Warbler from Bay-breasted. But distinguishing a female Blackpoll Warbler from a goldfinch? We “just know” from behavior, movements, proportions, calls, overall plumage colors, etc. There’s no need to know how the wing pattern of a goldfinch differs from the wing pattern of a warbler, so we don’t consciously memorize that. I’m not sure if this quiz will be hard or easy. I suspect it will be easy for experienced birders, but I haven’t been able to come up with any concise explanations to add to the answers, which makes me think that less experienced birders might find it really challenging. In any case, it is a good opportunity to step back and really think about what it is that distinguishes these unrelated groups of birds. With thanks, again, to Brian E. Small for providing the beautiful photos. You can see lots more at his website. ….Continue reading Quiz 33: Small songbirds by their wings → |
  Auction of Original Art
 No auctions found
Sorry, we seem to have sold out of everything we had!
 |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2012 Sibley Guides - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
Pitch is simply our perception of the frequency (or wavelength) of a sound, which we describe as high to low. Birds’ range of hearing is similar to our own, and bird song covers the full range to the limits of human hearing, from the lowest hooting sounds of Great Gray Owl or Spruce Grouse to the highest songs of Blackburnian Warbler or Golden-crowned Kinglet.
).
This quiz shows just the bodies of five species of small drab songbirds with wingbars. In other quizzes I’ve given a big clue in the form of telling you the family of the birds in the quiz (e.g. “More Warblers”), but in this quiz your challenge is to identify the family.
Recent Comments