Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Q I saw the most bizarre thing on my way to work. A woodpecker flew to a stop sign
and pounded on it with its bill. Why was it doing that?
A
Woodpeckersusuallydrumontreestoannouncetheirterritoriesortoattractmates,but
the woodpecker you saw took advantage of the metal sign to help broadcast his message
more loudly. The farther a woodpecker's drumming sound carries, the larger the territ-
ory he can defend. Different woodpecker species drum with distinctive rhythms. For ex-
ample, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers begin with a drum roll, pause, then add some slower
strikes. After a sapsucker drums, another sap-sucker may drum back in reply.
Pileated Woodpeckers drum rapidly, about 15 beats per second, speeding up near the
end of the burst. They also communicate using other rhythms, such as with a double tap
near a promising nest site, or a series of taps from within their nest cavity as a mate ap-
proaches to take a turn at the nest.
Q What's the best way to learn how to recognize different birds' songs?
A
The best way is to track down every natural sound you hear and look for the animal
that's making it. When I was a beginner, I spent three evenings trying to track down a
beautiful whistle that I
knew
had to come from a bird, only to finally find a one-inch tree
frog called a spring peeper!
When you search high and low for ten minutes to find one particular singer, you can't
help but remember that sound, bird or not. By tracking down each singer, little by little
you'll also absorb clues about the sound, habitat, time of day, time of year, and other
factors experts use to identify birds by ear.
You can listen to audio guides or birdsong recordings on the Internet to help you
identify the songs of birds in your area or at another birding destination. It's often most
effective to listen to a few songs at a time and become familiar with them before moving
on to the next few. You can also watch a DVD or CD-ROM with video footage of birds
singing to help you associate the bird with its song.
Whether listening to recordings or to birds in their natural settings, you can use mne-
monics to help you remember the sound. A few examples include the notes of a Black-
capped Chickadee (
chickadee-dee-dee
), the song of a Carolina Wren (
teakettle, teakettle,
teakettle
), and the hoot of a Barred Owl (
Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?
).
Many songs don't have a consistent rhythm pattern but are easily recognized by the
tonalquality.Crows
caw
whileravens
croak.
Rose-breastedandBlack-headedGrosbeaks
have a song somewhat similar to an American Robin's, but the grosbeaks have a richer
tonalqualitythantherobin.Idescribethedifferenceasthatbetweenanoperasingersuch
as Beverly Sills and a movie singer such as Julie Andrews.
