Hi All

I've mentioned this before but I'll throw it in again, anyhow. Song Sparrows
will put any Canary to shame with their Whisper Song. A rare treat if you can
catch one singing.

Roger Craik
Maple Ridge BC

Robert Sundstrom wrote:

> Michelle, Rob, and Tweeters,
>
> I think perhaps what you are hearing is Dark-eyed Junco subsong (whisper
> song), which a lot of songbirds sing in late winter and early spring,
> preceding their production of typical advertising song a bit later in the
> season. Subsong seems to have a lot of variety, and often seems very
> speeded up. I have marveled at junco subsong for years and used this
> species as an example in my Birding by Ear classes, because their subsong
> seems so strikingly complex compared to their typical spring trills. I have
> heard subsong from American Goldfinches and White-crowned Sparrows in the
> last few days too.
>
> Bob Sundstrom
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <WMeadowlark at att.net>
> To: <rsaecker at thurston.com>
> Cc: <WMeadowlark at att.net>
> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2001 1:09 PM
> Subject: Re: Junco mimics
>
> > Hi, Rob,
> >
> > Just the other day, in front of Madigan Hospital on Ft.
> > Lewis, I heard a junco doing almost the same thing. He
> > was interspersing his regular junco song with little
> > snips of melody. I didn't think of them as robinish
> > until your letter to Tweeters, but now that I think of
> > it, you're right, the one I heard was singing in robin
> > as well as juncos.
> > I have no idea if juncos mimic, but this is the first
> > time I've EVER heard a junco do anything other than
> > trill and chip.
> > Nor do I know if this is a regional peculiarity, or a
> > new phenomenon, or what. It's nice, though.
> > Michelle Blanchard
> > WMeadowlark at att.net
> > Oly, WA
> >
> >