Yesterday, during a woodland walk with my three dogs—Sammy, the English Sheepdog mix; Bridget, the Black Lab mix; and Zoey, the Who Knows? mix—I heard the cheerful, Robin-like song of the Scarlet Tanager. Years ago, before learning his song, I heard these whistled notes high in the canopy of this same woodland and searched out the bird with my binoculars and much effort. (Have you ever tried birding in the company of three dogs?) However, my work paid off, and there I saw him—a bright red bird with black wings—singing heartily. (Photos courtesy of Charles H. Warren).
This scarlet beauty was the male. As typical, the female is much less showy. It would take me some time to recognize the olive-yellow female whenever I saw her (if I can even now).
Of course, learning a bird’s song and calls greatly improves your ability to identify a particular species. Now some birds’ songs are easier to identify than others. And for me personally, I find a repeated string of musical whistles the hardest kind of song to recognize. For instance, the rambling whistles of the Red-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting, American Robin and Scarlet Tanager, to name a few, all sound somewhat similar to my ear. I can’t easily follow the pattern to their notes. Of course, these songs are not similar to the trained ear, so I suppose my ear is not sufficiently trained. But I have learned a few tricks for distinguishing among them. For instance, yesterday I recognized the Scarlet Tanager NOT from his whistles but from the call he ended with: “chik-burr”—now that was a sound I recognized! And though I didn’t see him, I knew it was he singing from some perch high above.
Since first hearing the Scarlet Tanager, some years ago, I’ve heard or seen him in this same general location every year since. I wonder if it’s the same bird?
Till next time . . . happy birding!
Georgia Anne
No comments:
Post a Comment