Monthly Archive for April, 2010

Why learn to bird by ear? Birding by ear is essential to all birders, opening an entirely new dimension of understanding and awareness. Learning to recognize birds by their calls and songs allows you to know birds just as you would a friend’s voice across a crowded room or a mother discerning her child’s cry of “MOM” amongst a chorus of “MOMs” on a playground. Birding by ear also opens up a whole new world of recognizing behaviors, keying in on sounds above the head, identifying lurking and hidden birds in the thick of spring growth and separating difficult species from one another.

The high chittering falling down from above reminds you to look up. The sun’s glare is barring any view of field marks. But immediately you recognize the sound of Violet-green Swallows. Spend enough time looking and sure enough they are no longer back lit and their white rump patches become obvious – confirmed!

The excited caw! caw! caw! of a murder of crows – what and why are they so upset? Focus in with your binoculars and a perfectly camouflaged Great Horned Owl pressed against the trunk of a tree comes into view. We would have walked right by without noticing this stunning predator but the crows raucous voices remind us to look.

Many birders are intimidated by learning the many different songs and calls that fill the bird world. But you needn’t be. The language of the bird world can be mastered and translated. There are a vast array of tools to help. CDs, tapes, and iPods will allow you to listen and learn at your leisure. During a long commute, while cleaning house, any time that is convenient for listening to these tools can help. Taking a class from an experienced guide will aide in the mastery of birding by ear.

Developing your own tips, tricks and tools is essential. Personalize your learning. The bubbling song of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet is now the “teeter-totter” bird. The whiney chatter of the Pine Siskens are forever known as Pine Ziiiiipkens! An orange rolling off a table? Orange-crowned Warblers descending trill of course. By placing your own description to the music around us it becomes your own.

Some field guides have excellent descriptions of bird sounds but nothing compares to the original Peterson Guides. Roger Tory Peterson had an incredible knack for translating the language of birds into English. He neatly separates the impossible Flycatchers with simple catch phrases that everyone can learn. Willow Flycatcher says Fitzbew! and the Olive-sided Flycatcher – Quick Three Beers! How fun and easy!

But by far the best way to learn birding by ear is to get outside and go birding. Pick up your binoculars and scope, spend time looking at a bird while it sings. Focus on the gray and orange red bird – does it say Cheeriup Cherrioh as a American Robin – or a monosyllable, discordant whistle of the Varied Thrush. Scan the trees, is it really a robin’s cheery song or a Black-headed Grosbeak or Western Tanager? Auditory cues such as a slurry wolf whistle of the grosbeak or a chibit of the tanager will narrow the identification – the visual contact will confirm the id.

Soon your everyday life will become richer. Now as you are walking across the parking lot to the mall in anticipation of the big spring sale you may be stopped in your tracks by the sweet conceit of the White-crowned Sparrow – “See Me Pretty, Pretty Me!” When you hear someone insisting “Drink your TEA!” an Eastern Towhee is nearby or if you are in a neighborhood on the West Coast, it will be the Bewick’s Wren demanding that you “Drink your TEA”!

Just that quickly your world will become a three dimensional experience with the previously unseen, unnoticed, unidentified popping into auditory view. Time, practice and being outside birding will open an entirely new world.