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Understanding the "field marks" of bird vocalization · Birding by Ear with the Master Birders Academy

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome back to the Birding by Ear with the Master Birders Academy podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: I am your host, Kayla Fisk.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Before we get into the nitty-gritty of IDing individual birds and families, we need to develop the ability to decipher what we are hearing.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Just like we know the names of different parts of the physical bird and are able to assign colors and qualities to those features, we need to be able to do the same thing with what we are hearing.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: For example, if we look in an adult bald eagle and are asked how to describe its bill, we already know where to look and from there can say it's a large yellow bill that is hooked.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: But if we were asked how to describe its vocalization, how would we do that?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: What words would we use?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Would you say it's whistled, trilled, fuzzy, fast, slow, high, or low pitched?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Without knowing the field marks of sound, how would you ever figure out what sound you heard?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe describe it to others?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Without assigning qualities, how would you narrow it down?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Or even know where to start in the first place?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: In this episode, we will go over the different qualities that we can use to help categorize bird sounds, primarily in regards to their song.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: By putting names to qualities, we will be able to pick out elements of a bird's song and from there compare to other similar species and improve our birding ability.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: When describing bird sounds, we will use four main factors pitch, tempo, tone quality, and pattern.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Together, these traits help identify the species and understand what makes each species' vocalizations unique.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: So first, let's start with pitch.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: We will generally break sounds into either high pitched or low pitched.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Many songbirds or passerins have high pitched songs, and how high depends on the species or family.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: An example of some high pitched songs are the brown creeper or cedar wax wings.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Many waterfowl, owls, and doves are good examples of low pitch sounds, like the Great Horned Owl, or the morning dove.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Some birds will have an even pitch, while others may rise or fall.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: The prairie warbler is a good example of a song with a rising pitch.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: And the canyon wren is a good example of a song that falls in pitch.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: The second quality we will look at is its tempo, or how fast or slow it is.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: This also includes taking note of the pauses between phrases.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Some birds will have very slow songs.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Good examples of a slow song is the wood thrush.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Or the white-throated sparrow.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then there are fassongs.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Many wren species are a good example of this, such as the house wrench or the winter wren.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Then some may increase in speed, like the field sparrow.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Or slow down like a Soras.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: The third quality we will look at is the tone quality.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: This is what the song sounds like.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Tone quality can include it being clear, which is categorized as a pure whistle-like sound.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: If you were to look at a spectrogram, which is a visualization of a sound, like what you would see when you are hearing sounds on the Merlin Bird ID app, where different sounds will show as different lines and shapes as the app hears different sounds.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Clear sounds look like a thin, crisp line on a spectrogram.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Examples of birds with clear tone qualities include the black cap chickadee, and the northern cardinal.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: This is a sound that vibrates quickly, often sounding like a bee or a kazoo.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: On a spectrogram, this sound looks like a tight up and down squiggly line covering a wide range in pitch, creating a single sound.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Examples of bird songs that are buzzy are the black-throated blue warbler, the blue-winged warbler, or a grasshopper sparrow.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: The third sound quality we are going to go over are those that are trilled.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Trilled are a combination of notes that are repeated so fast that the human ear cannot accurately count them individually.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: It can be a slow trill like a swamp sparrow.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Or a fast trill like a chipping sparrow.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Or you can combine qualities and have a different trill, like sounding mechanical or wooden.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: And that sometimes is categorized as a rattle, like can be heard in the belted kingfisher.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe the quality is harsh or nasally, where the spectrogram looks more like a block of static or multiple lines stacked on top of each other.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Think of the harsh call of the American Crow.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Or the nasally call of the Blue Jay.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And the last feature we want to pay attention to is its pattern.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Does a song or call have any notes or phrases repeated?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Does a song start or end with a particular note?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: For example, when telling apart the three main mimics, Grey Cappird, Brown Thrasher, and Northern Mockingbird, we are paying attention to how many times it repeats a phrase.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: With a catbird and maybe once, thrasher twice, and a mockingbird three or more times.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Or think about the oven bird, with its song consisting of a two-part phrase repeated over and over with each phrase building up.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: While for most bird songs, you're going to be relying on analyzing their qualities, like the ones we discussed earlier, some birds are able to be memorized more easily by giving their song or call a mnemonic.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: This is a word or phrase that is associated with a bird's particular song.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: For example, the American Robin can be cheerily cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: The red-eyed vireo can be here I am, where are you.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Or the bard owls, who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: So now that we know the main ways to categorize and describe a song, let's test this with some different bird songs for practice.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Take a moment, pausing if need be, to analyze the song.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: What would you consider its tempo?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Is it speeding up, slowing down, or staying steady?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: What's its pitch?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: High, low, rising, falling?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: What qualities would you assign?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Does it sound clear and whistled?
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe buzzy or nasally?
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: What about its pattern?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Are there any repeating notes or phrases?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: This bird is a common yellow throat, a small yellow warbler known for its bold black mask.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: This bird is often skulky and is a bird that is often heard before it is seen.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Let's listen to its song one more time.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Their song is categorized by its up and down pattern of two to three loud notes sung steadily in a quick rhythm.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: These notes are categorized as a whistled clear quality.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: And as an added bonus, their song has a mnemonic of witchidi-witchidi-witchidi.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: One last tip I have for memorizing bird sounds, particularly if you are more of a visual learner, is using Merlin.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Every time it hears a particular bird, that species will pop up and be highlighted.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: Seeing it highlighted every time you hear the bird can really help you connect the sound to the actual bird.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: This also applies to seeing the bird while it's making the vocalizations.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: I hope with this episode you are starting to develop an understanding of the qualities or field marks of bird sounds.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Understanding these terms are crucial to be able to describe and process what you are actually hearing and are the first steps to mastering birding by ear.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: So get outside and practice.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Pick a species that is common in your area and is vocalizing a lot, and sit back and take note of its sounds, paying particular attention to its pitch, tempo, sound qualities, and pattern.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, happy birding!