"Bullock's Oriole sings and calls", "all about birds" and "blaze of"

The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas.

Grosbeak is from left.The photo is from the Audubon Photography Awards.The photo is from the Audubon Photography Awards.

Is it a bird or a sparrow?Robin or grosbeak?Spring migrants sound the same until you see their calls.

The beautiful songs of returning migrant birds are one of the joys of spring.Avian voices can help us know what's around and lead us to the species we most want to see.

It is not always easy to learn bird songs.The Yellow-throated Vireo's rrreeyoo, rreeoooee, is not useful in helping us identify songs.An easier way to come up with an objective ID is to use pictures of songs, which help us see the underlying structures and qualities of a species.In this article, we will explore five pairs of similar-sounding songs you might encounter in the yard or park, and use spectrograms to help us remember how to tease them apart.A quick rundown of terms used.

Phrases repeat as a group.The tea-kett-le is a series of three elements.

Sections are groups of similar elements and phrases that are marked by a change in pitch, speed, or phrase type.It's a two-section song.

Our attempts to translate songs into vowels and consonants are called transliterations.Sometimes they work, but only for the person who made them.

Songs were recorded by Lang, Bob, Kevin, Colver, and others for the Audubon North American Birds Guide and app.Tom was using the BirdGenie app.

American Robins can be found in a wide range of habitats, from forests to fresh-cut lawns.In Eastern springs they can be confused with Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.There are two main differences between the two species.

American Robin phrases have elements with fast pitch changes.Their songs are a "wobbly" characteristic.Rose-breasted Grosbeak phrases have pitch changes, but they are slower, smoother, and slurred more evenly.

American Robin phrases follow a regular rhythm.The grosbeak's phrases alternate between regular rhythms and irregularly placed phrases, making their songs the worst nightmare for a conductor.

In the Eastern United States, Common Yellowthroats and Carolina Wrens can be heard in scrubby fields, bottomlands, and forest-edge habitat in the spring and summer.Both species have the same structure, with one section usually consisting of a three-element phrase.The wren's is tea-kett-le, and the warblers' is wit-chi-tah.Since one person can be another person's witchitah, we need a better way to separate the two sounds.

The Common Yellowthroat has a song with slow slurs and shallow pitch changes.The warbler has an even and smooth performance, but the Carolina Wren's song has a strong, repeated accent that stands out.If you listen carefully, you will find these species less confusing in the future.

Much of the same breeding territory as the Hooded Oriole is shared between California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.Both species have songs with a variety of whistles, chatter, and other loud notes.You don't know which oriole is which with all of that noise.

Let's look at the arrangement of their songs.It is useful to know how many different types of buzzes, trills, scolds and slurs each species uses.When identifying other species, this approach of noting the number of phrase types can be helpful.

The songs usually start with a rhythmic repetition of harsh calls, move into a short section of clear slurs, and end with another part of repeated phrases.There are seemingly random, fast changes between slurs, harsh notes, and imitated calls in the style of hooded Orioles.Songs for the species can be different in form and content.The songs are the same throughout the session.

The orioles calls, which are woven into their songs, prove to be revealing.Each species has two types, one a harsh chatter and the other a slur.The calls are similar, but the Hooded's are higher, faster, and often doubled.The slurs of the Hooded and the Bullock are both rising and falling.

The American Goldfinch is found in fields, scrub, feeders, and edge habitats in the western part of the country.It is difficult to identify females of the two species.

Structural arrangement and call notes are important for teasing the songs apart.

There are a lot of recycled phrases in American Goldfinch songs.Lesser songs have single notes picked up from other species.The looser structure leads to a wide range of phrases.

Both species have calls in their songs.The American Goldfinch has a short, clear, falling call that's usually repeated in a fast sequence.There is a rising call that is more drawn out and complex.

The Lesser Goldfinch's rising call is easy to understand.Its falling call is much slower than the American's.There is also a simple, harsh chet that could repeat.

A single male can have more than 10 song types.Across much of the United States and Canada, this is true.Across the Western and Central United States, their musical counterparts, Bewick's Wren, overlap with them.Both species have trills, buzzes, and clear notes, but their call notes are different.

Song Sparrows usually start their songs with a jump in pitch and a pair of terse elements.They have many different calls, but rarely include them in their songs.

The Bewick's Wrens kick off their songs with a loud call.Their notes are generally higher, thinner, and more nasal than the sparrows.Song Sparrows buzz, but often at lower pitches.

Compared to two or three, the wren's song looks a lot simpler.

The last clue is at the end of the spectrograms.The Bewick and Song Sparrow use rapid-fire elements in their encores.

You can learn how to bird by ear in part five of our new series.

Sandpipers and American Avocets are some of the birds found at the Bolivar Shorebird Flats Sanctuary.

"Bullock's Oriole sings and calls", "all about birds" and "blaze of"

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