Bird Vocalization

1
Bird Vocalization
http//people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdcommunication
.html
2
Purpose of Vocalizations

• Contact or association calls
• Alarm calls
• Juvenile begging
• Territorial calls and songs associated with
  reproduction
• Lays out territorial boundaries
• Signals to potential rivals that territory is
  occupied
• Advertises prowess as potential mate
• Indicates location within territory

3
Components of Vocalizations

• Rhythm
• Pitch
• Volume
• Tonal quality
• Syntax sequence ofa series of particular notes

Combined, these acoustic details allow for
species recognition AND, in many species, for
conspecifics to recognize individuals e.g.,
young, parents, mates, neighbors.
4
Song vs. Calls

• Differentiated by length and complexity of
  vocalization
• Calls are simple, have discrete purpose, and
  innately known
• Songs are well-developed, multi-purposed, and are
  partly or entirely learned
• Songs are particularly well-developed in
  passerines
• Other orders sing with other body parts
• Bird brains

5
Mechanics of Vocalizations

• Vocalizations produced by the syrinx (syringes)
  voice or song organ in birds.
• The syrinx is a bony structure surrounded by an
  air sac and modified by syringeal muscles.
• Syrinx is analogous to larynx in mammals, but is
  located at the bottom rather than the top of the
  trachea (windpipe) allows it to become a
  resonating chamber.
• Two sides of syrinx independently controlled
  allows for highly complex songs and two voice
  phenomenon.

http//people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdcommunication
.html
6
Song Repertoire Size
7
Mimics

• Parrots
• Family Mimidae (Mimics)
• Mockingbird
• Gray Catbird
• Brown Thrasher
• Family Corvidae (Corvids)
• Jays

http//people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdcommunication
.html
8
Bird Language

• Paul Rezendez, Tracking and the Art of Seeing
  How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign
• Tom Brown, Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature
  Observation and Tracking
• www.trackerschool.com
• John Young, Advanced Bird Language
• http//www.natureskills.com/language_of_the_birds.
  html

9
Overall.

• Birds can have rich and varied repertoires of
  calls and songs
• Some of most varied vocalizations in all of
  animal kingdom, comparable to non-human primates
• These vocalizations have varied purposes
• For humans, they are a source of beauty and
  inspiration
• Understanding bird language is an important
  naturalist skill and research tool
• In the northern hemisphere, the are also a
  harbinger of springs approach

10
All Year

• Red-tailed Hawk (Bald Eagle)
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Mourning Dove
• American Crow
• Blue Jay

11
All But Winter

• Canada Goose
• Mallard
• Belted Kingfisher

12
Winter

• Dark-eyed Junco
• Great-Horned Owl

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Late Winter-Early Spring

• American Kestrel
• Barred Owl
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Black-capped Chickadee
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Northern Cardinal
• House Finch

14
Early Spring

• Northern Flicker
• American Robin
• Red-winged blackbird
• Common Grackle
• Chipping Sparrow
• Song Sparrow

15
Late Spring-Summer

• Red-eyed Vireo
• House Wren
• Eastern Bluebird
• Gray Catbird
• Field Sparrow
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Indigo Bunting
• Dickcissel
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• American Goldfinch