I don't think Varied Thrushes sing differently in northern Idaho than they
do in western Washington. They all sound the same to me whether they are
singing in my yard in Albion, WA, in the early spring (I live only about 10
miles from Moscow, ID, where Jane lives), singing in the dark woods of
northeastern Washington, or the dark woods of western Washington.

Perhaps, we are just confusing terms. To me, the Varied Thrush sings a
single, steady tone for a few seconds. Then it stops for a few seconds.
Then it sings again, a single, steady tone but a different pitch and quality
than the first note. It cycles through several different tones, including a
really nasty, buzzy one that seems to be a big mistake, then repeats,
usually in the same order.

As Michael Price correctly noted, many birds have a larynx (voice box) on
each bronchi, where the wind pipe splits in two to go to the two lungs.
Each larynx is controlled separately, by different nerves and different
muscles. As a result, these birds can sing two songs at the same time!
This is most noticeable when you are very close to the bird. Varied
Thrushes can sing two, different tones at the same time; at a distance,
these blend together. To me, the double song is most noticeable in
Swainson's Thrushes (and also Wood Thrushes but they don't occur in the
Pacific Northwest). If you are really close, the two different songs can be
heard quite clearly. Just thinking about it brings chills to my spine. I
had one bird serenading me (and the surround females) from less than six
feet during a bird survey. It is an amazing sound. Hermit Thrushes may
sing two songs also but I haven't been close enough to a singing one to tell
(yet). Other birds also sing two notes at the same time but they are
impossible to hear in the wild. It can be seen on sonograms of bird songs.

Thanks to the person who posted the original question yesterday. I now know
what a tin penny whistle sounds like! Just like a Varied Thrush! ;)

Deb Beutler
Dept. of Zoology
Washington State University
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA

dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Diann MacRae <tvulture at halcyon.com>
To: jwesterv at uidaho.edu <jwesterv at uidaho.edu>
Cc: tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, March 02, 1999 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: Tin penny whistle - the final word (almost)


>At 11:29 AM 3/2/99 PST, you wrote:
>>
>>All the varied thrushes I've heard sing have a two note song. One
>>note clearer, the other buzzier, somewhere between a whistle &
>>kazoo. From what's been said, can I assume the tin whistle sounds
>>like this second note?
>>jw
>
>Do you suppose Idaho varied thrushes sing different songs, with two notes?
>The varied thrush bunch in my yard (2 acres) sing only one note. They
>"answer" each other, but the songs come from all over the place - always
>one note at a time. Interesting.
>
>Diann MacRae
>Bothell
>tvulture at halcyon.com
>