Subject: Re: birdsong recordings
Date: Apr 1 08:22:13 1995
From: Harriet Whitehead - whitehea at wsunix.wsu.edu


To continue a thread that I find quite fascinating...In response to Chris
on bird size and vocal volume, I would agree that you can find many
counter-intutive examples: voluble dicky birds, puny-sounding hawks, etc.
But isn't there, statistically, a noticeable association between the
bird's size and its volume? There are simply some bird noises that tell
me right away that I'm not dealing with a tiny bird. Why is this?

Chris also seems to be implying that the body-size / voice size
correlations in humans are entirely predictable. Not so, either.


Chris wrote>
>
> As an aside, the more I learn, the more I am impressed with how different
> the vocal apparatus and its product are for birds (from us). I mean,
> based on humans, or mammals in general, or even amphibians, you would
> predict that the bigger the body size, the louder and lower pitched the
> call repertoire - but compare a wren's chatter (low) with an eagle's
> mewling (high), or just listen to the volume of sound that a Carolina
> Wren, for example, can put out, all 20 grams of it, and you know that
> it's a different system.
>
> Chris Hill
> Seattle, WA
> cehill at u.washington.edu
>
>
>