Nothing signals the start of spring to me more than the songs of birds filling the morning air. Melodious male birds sing to attract mates and to stake their claim on their territory. A male who can sing well is showing to females that he is healthy and that his offspring will also be healthy singers who can attract mates of their own and continue to pass along his superb genes.
Each bird has a different song to set it apart from other species, from the cheer-cheer-cheer of the northern cardinal, to the peter-peter-peter-peter of the tufted titmouse, and even the simple chirp of a house sparrow. Woodpeckers prefer the use of percussion instruments and will drum loudly on a hollow limb or trunk of a tree as their song. Mockingbirds, catbirds and European starlings show off by copying as many sounds as they can. Males with the biggest repertoire get the girl! These birds never cease to amaze me with their spot-on impressions of blue jays, American robins and red-tailed hawks. One starling in particular who resides in the “Michaels” lettering by the Willow Grove Mall does such a good imitation of a killdeer that I am often left looking around for the long-legged shorebird.
The next time you find yourself marveling at these spring songsters, try a couple of activities to tune your listening ear:
1) Count how many different kinds of songs you can hear. It may be hard to pick them out at first, but with practice you’ll start hearing all kinds of different songs.
2) Pick out one individual bird and listen for all of the other males responding to his song. It’s amazing how many and from how far away they will respond!
3) Just like people from different areas, some birds have different song dialects! See if you can hear slight variations in songs of a single kind of bird as you travel.
I’d love to hear about your findings! Share your story by emailing me at kfisk[at symbol]briarbush.org!
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