Tag-Archive for » bird «

Sunday, February 08th, 2009 | Author: admin

BIRDS SONGS

 Bird songs whilst walking in any slightly wooded area, even a street with a few trees lining it, there will be bird song, they are often quite loud during the morning hours, but unless you have a trained ear you may not recognize the which kind sings what song. birders know that the fitter the bird the better quality of the song, birds songs are the speech of avians, and all animals in ear shot can understand what a bird is trying to say simply through the pitch of its song.  Humans need to train our selves in order to have the ability to understand birds.
Song Bird
Training our ears to hear all bird that surrounds us hearing  more birds we see is a given. Some birds prefer to be high upon a tree’s top, and we may never see them, but we will certainly hear them by listening carefully.  As our hearing becomes more acute, we can learn to distinguish that birds sound differently when they are in danger, when they become alarmed, or when something happens that is out of the ordinary. For the attentive birder, taking heed of these alarm callers can save us from danger as well.

Birds use these alarm calls to warn other birds of predators, the domestic chicken has distinct alarm calls for aerial and ground predators. Individual birds also seem to be able to identify each other through their calls, mothers and chicks, partners or members of a flock.

Many birds have unique songs that they sing under special circumstances such as in flight, aggression, dawn and at nightfall. studies show that brighter bird species had more parasites, as did those that sang more musically complex songs. In another study, researchers discovered that the type of bug immunity had an influence on birdsong the number of song bouts was higher in birds with better general immunity that, and the length of the bouts greater in birds with better antibody immunity.

Many bird songs play an important role in the mating ritual,
lots of birds engage in duet calls, where the Male’s call is answered antiphonally by the female in a call and response, but the significance of this is unclear. Some birdsong, like those of starlings and mockingbirds, creatively incorporate arbitrary musical bits learned during their individual lifetime. In most species though the basic song is the same for all members of the species, young birds learn some details of their songs from their fathers, which get passed
down through generations.
Thrush has a distictly musical bird song
Mnemonics, or the practice of using words to remember phrases in bird songs, helps greatly in getting use to the different bird songs, some birds that say their own names, like the Carolina Chickadee, who says "chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee," the Eastern Phoebe with its phoebe call, the bob-white and the Eastern Wood Pewee, who cries out "pee-a-wee."  Night the Whippoorwill and the Chuck Will’s Widow calling out their names too near water or in fields, another bird announces it’s presence with shrill cries of "killdeer! killdeer!" saying it’s name quite distinctly.

There are other birds don’t call out with their names, but have song birds that sound remarkably like phrases in English, Miss B.Potter emulated this many times in her stories, do you remember "little bit of bread and no cheese?" In grasslands, you’ll hear and
recognize the Eastern Meadowlark’s "spring-of-the-year".  Many Woodland birds who ‘speak English’, include the Tufted Titmouse, calling to "peter-peter-peter," the meowing Gray Catbird, the Eastern Towhee telling everyone to "Drink your tea!" and the Carolina Wren, singing it’s loudly with "teakettle, teakettle, teakettle".

Flycatchers are another thing they all look similar to each other. The best way to distinguish one from another is by the song. The Great-crested Flycatcher says, "Wheep!", the Arcadian says "pizza, pizza," the Alder cries "Fitzbuh," and the Olive-sided begs, "Quick! Three beers."

Owl calls are easy to learn. The typical hooting call belongs to the Great Horned Owl. The Eastern Screech Owl whinnies like a horse, and the Barred Owl continually questions, ‘Who cooks for you? Who cooks
for you-all?’

If at all possible it is a grand thing to be able to observe the song birds behaviour whilst they sing, they will do this whilst lining up for there turn at the bird feeder, some birds wait turns within their species (Chick-a-Dee’s) and communicated whilst doing so. American Robins appeared particularly congenial to one another, chattering back and forth, attending this fine buffet and social occasion.

Birds are wondrous creatures enjoying them every where, now if you have trouble hearing these wounderous songs perhaps you could invest in a niffty song bird hearing aid, they bring nature so close.

 More Birding by Ear Eastern and Central North America A Guide

 Just as the original BIRDING BY EAR audio introduces listeners to a unique method of learning and remembering bird songs, MORE BIRDING BY EAR employs these proven techniques for ninety-six.

Teachers: California Academy of Sciences

As far as season of the year, the greatest shear amount of bird song may be heard in the spring, when males of many species defend territories and/or try to attract mates. 

Downloading Bird song onto MP3 player – BirdForum

Downloading Bird song onto MP3 player Computers, Birding Software And The Internet.   

Developing a new Bird Song identification device 

So we thought we might be able to develop and build a cheap and portable bird-identification device (by processing the bird-songs) for bird-watchers and hopefully.

 Mail this post

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Sunday, January 18th, 2009 | Author: admin

Window Bird Feeders

Window Bird feeders are great for the bird enthusiast especially for those that  live in an area that birds habituate, it should be a simple matter of choosing a suitable wild bird feeder that is not only able to attract the native species but that has the most appropriate hanging or attaching mechanism in order to give you the optimum view of the birds feeding at the window, some are hanging feeders, others stick directly on to window,  some of them have clamps that fasten on to a beam or over hang, others are designed to attach to window ledges.

window bird feeders

Window bird feeders attract a variety of wild birds, there are some humming bird window feeders,  that  stick right on the window and give a fantastic view of the tiny critters flitting around your window feeder.

 One way mirrors are also a useful feature on a window bird feeder, as birds sit eating you can observe their beautiful colours and mannerisms without frightening them away, I find it is best to have a sheer over the window (like a net curtain only better)  too as this stops any movements from inside being seen.

bird window

This pigeon has gone one step further and made a nest on the window ledge

Which ever window bird feeder you choose the birding enthusiast  will enjoy unfettered views of their favourite critters inches from them, this can provide enertainment for the family and/or the family cat.  

My cat sits and watches  the birds feeding at the window, tail aflicking attentive following with her eyes, she realizes that nothing can be done, but enjoys observing the wild birds on the feeder.


James Family Life: The Bird Watching Continues….
We are obsessed with bird watching this winter!! We put a window bird feeder in the window of our school room and it took a couple of days but they did find it! It is so cool.

Window Bird Feeders | From The Garden
Window bird feeders are small bird feeders that attach to you window in one of two ways. Window bird feeders can either uses suction cups and or Velcro or. 

Winter Windows for Bored Pets
Hang bird cages by a window or provide window seats for dogs and cats so they can see outside. They will enjoy watching wild birds, squirrels, and other animals.

 Mail this post

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , ,