Song Sparrow.
The songs of Song Sparrows sound a lot alike: a collection of distinctive trills and chimes. But if you listen closely you can tell each song of this species is each unique. Each puts the trills and chimes in particular order, and utters a different number of chimes, and the chimes are of different pitches.
If you listen very closely—or simply have a musical ear—you can learn a particular Song Sparrow’s song.
Years ago I got to know such a song. Every spring about this time, the same bird would return to the same spot as if it had GPS technology hard-wired in its brain. I could tell it was him because of his song, and I’d always smile a little upon hearing that tune for the first time every April. For four or five years, I’d say.
Then one spring a Song Sparrow sang from my bird’s patch—and the song I heard was different. And my heart sank.
Today I listened to dueling sparrows singing from within a hundred feet of each other. Their songs seemed similar—perhaps they came from the same family, I thought—but when I listened more closely, I detected the difference in the sequence of their strings of ingredients in a typical Song Sparrow song.
Song Sparrows were singing all over the place today. Perhaps I’ll pick a particular song to get to know.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 9 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American Robin*
2. Blue Jay (v)
3. Song Sparrow**
4. Pileated Woodpecker
5. Black-capped Chickadee**
6. Tufted Titmouse** (v)
7. Northern Cardinal* (v)
8. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
9. Northern Flicker (v)
10. American Crow*
11. Herring Gull*
12. Red-winged Blackbird
13. American Goldfinch** (v)
14. Purple Finch (v)
Elsewhere
15. Mourning Dove
16. Turkey Vulture
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, purple finch, red-winged blackbird, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, white-breasted nuthatch
