Bob,



Learning from listening to a list of 300 bird songs is like trying to learn
a new language by reading a dictionary.



Start with something like Peterson's "Birding By Ear", (western version).
It's a learning tape. Well, mine is a tape. Now, it would be a CD or in MP3
format, maybe. It groups songs by type and tells you what to listen for.
It's analogous to a beginner's foreign language textbook, rather than a
dictionary.



It doesn't cover ALL species, but will cover at least 80% of what you're
likely to hear. Once you have a mental way of organizing them in your head
(warble? Singsong? Trill? Etc.) then you can start to make sense of the
rest.



The only caveat is that birds with strong local dialects, notably Bewick's
Wren and White-crowned Sparrow in the Puget Sound area, won't sound like the
ones on the Birding By Ear tape, but you won't have that problem with most
of them.



Kelly Cassidy

Pullman, WA



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of RH Johnston
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2010 11:39 AM
To: Tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] Identification by song



What is the best way to learn to identify birds by song or call? I have Bird
Songs of the Pacific Northwest, Cornell University, but do you take it and a
player in the field? Memorizing 300 plus songs is daunting. Is there a way
to match the songs to a visual guide like Peterson's? I've seen an
identifier that has a bar code you can stick on the the field guide but it
only had a few birds, most of which I already knew. Usually I can get a
glimpse of the bird, enough to narrow down the choices, but then I have to
try and remember the song, find it on the CD and so on. I would appreciate
any advice and suggestions. Thanks much, Bob Johnston, Tacoma WA