Subject: Song ID? black-thr gray, Townsends, Hermit
Date: Apr 28 07:48:51 2004
From: Martyn Stewart - mstew at naturesound.org
I Totally agree, there are so many vocalizations of birds, and to go back
and listen to a Stokes or Petersons CD does not always give you the answer,
there is not enough room on these CD's to capture all, there is a standard
vocalization of birds that we all know, yet there are some incredible songs
that these same birds will sing for ever like a concerto, I am always
skeptical people giving a positive ID from hearing its call like in the case
of a warbler, you may know a certain rhythm or pattern but you can easily be
fooled by the unknown.
I could post a few songs from say a Hermit Warbler or a Townsend's warbler
and you would never guess who was who!
Martyn
Martyn Stewart
Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
http://www.naturesound.org
N47.65543 W121.98428
Redmond. Washington. USA
Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!
When the animals come to us,
Asking for our help,
Will we know what they are saying?
When the plants speak to us
In their delicate, beautiful language,
Will we be able to answer them?
When the planet herself
Sings to us in our dreams,
Will we be able to wake ourselves, and act?
-Gary Lawless
_____
From: Eugene and Nancy Hunn [mailto:enhunn at comcast.net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 6:23 AM
To: mstew at naturesound.org; kenw at cablespeed.com; 'Tweets'
Subject: Re: Song ID? black-thr gray, Townsends, Hermit
Tweeters,
Having read the "adequate description" Martyn has forwarded one can only
conclude that you can never be sure if it's Black-throated Gray, Townsend's,
Hermit, or a hybrid just from hearing it, so you have to spend twenty or
thirty minutes with your neck in a painful crook looking 150 feet straight
up in the fir in hopes of a definitive glimpse. That's been my experience.
Gene Hunn.
----- Original Message -----
From: Martyn <mailto:mstew at naturesound.org> Stewart
To: kenw at cablespeed.com ; 'Tweets' <mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 6:15 PM
Subject: RE: Song ID? black-thr gray, Townsends, Hermit
Ken
Here is an adequate description to help you with the vocalizations for the
three birds you enquired about.
I have taken this from the "Bird identification in the Pacific northwest"
You may also get this panflet at this link,
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/gtr260
Hope this answers your questions :-)
Regards
Martyn :-)
Black-throated Gray Warbler (BGWA)
T: Two basic types
1. Most common type in Washington is always buzzy, a slow
ZEE-A, ZEE-A, ZEE-A, ZEE-A (-ZEET) or WEE-ZY WEE-ZY
WEE-ZY WEE-ZY (-WEET), rises gradually in pitch, each
phrase a step higher than the last; Hermit and Townsend's
Warblers sometime have rising buzzy songs also, but without
steplike character (FO).
2. Much more rapid, usually buzzy, pattern somewhat variable,
most common type in northwestern California transcribed as
ZEEDLE-ZEEDLE-ZEEDLE-ZEEDLE ZEET-TZEW-ZEET-REW,
the ZEEDLE's very fast, often slurred together. the 4 last notes
longer in duration, more distinct, with up-and-down pattern,
always opens with ZEEDLE's or ZEEDLE's or TEEDLE's,
number and pattern of ending notes variable; difficult to distinguish
from Hermit and Townsend's (FO).
N: 1. A sharp CHIP almost identical to Hermit (FO).
2. A dull CHUT. intermediate between calls of Yellow-rumped and
Townsend's (FO).
Hermit Warbler (HEWA)
T: Pattern and cadence highly variable, closely resembles Blackthroated
Gray and Townsend's Warblers; two general forms most
common, fast and slow.
1. Fast type, mostly buuy, typically with a fast introductory
phrase, an accented note, and two lower ending notes with
clear tone ZEEDLE-ZEEDLE-ZEEDLE-ZEEDLE-ZEET-CHE-CHE
or ZEE-ZEE-ZEE-ZOO-CHUP-CHUP, number of notes in each
part variable, sometimes without middle accented note (FO).
2. Slow type, not as buzzy, WHEETO-WHEETO-WHEETOWHEETOWHIT,
slightly faster and accented toward end (FO).
N: A weak, nonbuzzy CHIP or TSIP, almost identical to Townsend's
(FO).
16
Townsend's Warbler (TOWA)
T: Three or 4 notes similar in pitch, followed by 2 or more high-pitched
sibilant ones DZEER SZEER DZEER TSEETSEE (P); pattern
variable, high and wheezy (thinner quality than Black-throated Gray
Warbler), often with rising inflection throughout; birds in Washington
sometimes sing a type very similar or identical to hermit's fast type
(FO)
N: CHIT or TSIP (L); almost identical to hermit (FO).
Hermit and Townsend's Warblers (HETO)
These two hybridize commonly in the Cascade Range of southern
Washington. Their songs are usually buzzy, extremely variable, and
indistinguishable in the area of overlap. The fast song type with the clear
2-note ending has been noted as diagnostic of the Hermit Warbler by
some authors, but at least in much of Washington (northern and southern
Cascade Range), the Townsend's Warbler also sings this song type.
Conversely, Hermit Warblers have been seen singing the supposed
Townsend's type that rises throughout. For censusing purposes in areas
of overlap, we have lumped the two species and call them all HETO,
because of the impossibility of identification by song and the extreme
difficulty of seeing them well enough to distinguish hybrids and pure
types (FO)
Martyn Stewart
Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
http://www.naturesound.org
N47.65543 W121.98428
Redmond. Washington. USA
Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!
When the animals come to us,
Asking for our help,
Will we know what they are saying?
When the plants speak to us
In their delicate, beautiful language,
Will we be able to answer them?
When the planet herself
Sings to us in our dreams,
Will we be able to wake ourselves, and act?
-Gary Lawless
_____
From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
[mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Ken Wilson
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 5:57 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Song ID? black-thr gray, Townsends, Hermit
For you warbler experts,
Any suggestions for definitively separating songs of Black-throated Gray,
Townsends, and Hermit Warblers?
Apparently, these species can sing a number of variations. For example, I
thought I knew Townsends ("zeeah zeeah zeet zeet"), and then listened to
Stokes CDs (which presented Townsends songs that were different from the
ones I knew).
I just returned to the NW from eight years living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
I am definitely rusty!
Thanks for your help,
Ken Wilson
Port Townsend
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