Subject: re: song i.d.
Date: May 12 16:10:25 1997
From: KitEllis at aol.com - KitEllis at aol.com


You said << I'm looking for a good reference for songs and calls, coupled
with visual identification, maybe on CD rom etc. >> There are a many more
experienced birding-by-ear Tweeters around, but for a quick response from
someone not very expert, here's my two cents worth, in four categories. For
identifying a completely unknown bird, I don't know how to make an educated
guess, except by comparison with other songs I have heard.

For learning a subset of bird songs, I really like Birding by Ear: Western in
the Peterson Field Guide Series. Similar types of songs are grouped together,
examined, compared and contrasted. The mnemonics are often useful, since they
are a good way to learn sound patterns, e.g., Maids, maids, maids, put on
your tea kettle-ettle-ettle (song sparrow). The booklet is helpful, since it
is indexed by bird name as well as by mnemonic. (The two sets of eastern
Birding by Ear are fine, too. May be they have more birds with distinctive
songs than we do in the west?)

The exhaustive recordings of every western bird I find overwhelming to use
for identification, but I do like them for preparation. Chance favors the
prepared mind, etc. I like being told where and when the sounds were
recorded, too. I've just switched from the cassette tapes to the CD format
and find the searching soooo much more satisfactory. I use Western Bird Songs
in the Peterson Field Guide Series.

If you have a computer with CD-ROM, you might find these useful: the Thayer's
Birding Software Birds of North America (PC) or National Audubon Society
Interactive CD-ROM Guide to North American Birds (PC or Mac). The song
segments are short and have no associated explanations or locations, but once
you select a bird, the song is available to you while you see a picture of
the bird itself. Thayer's has the sonograms, too.

A fourth type of resource of the Audubon Society's VideoGuides To The Birds
of North America. They do give you generally good motion pictures of the
bird, singing, but searching is a real pain for me, so I haven't used them in
ages.

I hope this helps.

Kit Ellis
Gig Harbor, WA