USE THIS SEASON TO LEARN BIRD SONGS

   

Young male Orchard Oriole

Photo courtesy Sharon Milligan

   Once all the northbound migrants leave town (the last of them by mid-June), there seems to be a void in a birder's life. It doesn't have to be that way. Here are some suggestions to get you through until the unofficial beginning of fall migration in mid-August, when we make our annual search for the Olive-sided Flycatcher. Learn bird songs. There is no better time than the nesting season to get a musical education. Granted, the nesting season is well under way, but the remainder of May and first couple of weeks in June are ideal times to study bird songs and calls without the distraction of a passing migrant.

   During this season, the possibilities presented by the bird one is hearing are far less confusing than they would be in April or early May, when every bird gets on stage. The premise here is that a singing bird is a permanent or summer resident. The premise here is that every adult male bird which is defending a territory or nest will sing at least once during any given three-minute period.

   Did you know that you can hear a bird's song from a quarter mile away? If you get to be good at listening, you will recognize that song above the noise of lawnmowers or the din of traffic. In the interest of tranquility, not to mention good study habits, the places to learn songs are those that are nearly traffic-free. That means country roads, woodland walks, bottom lands, even canoe trips.

   One hears very little singing after 9:30 or 10 a.m., when the heat of the day causes birds, not to mention us mere mortals, to shut down. So if you really are into the learning game, you will want to be "on site" and ready to start learning about a half hour before sunrise, or at least be there when the big golden orb peeks out of the east.

   Pick a spot. Pine woods, for example. There are a surprising number of birds that nest in the pine woods, provided they are not pine plantations. Any pure habitat lacks the proper mix to attract a variety of birds. One of my favorite places is DeSoto National Forest, where there are many dirt roads. I like Seymour Road in Jackson County. It is off Larue Road not far from the junction of Larue Road and Old Biloxi Highway, otherwise known as Daisy Vestry Road. Any dirt road that leads off the major thoroughfares will do.

   What might you hear? Or see? Perhaps an owl, if you are early. If you are early, perhaps a Chuck-will's-widow or a Common Nighthawk. Mourning Dove. Mississippi Kite. Broad-winged Hawk. Red-shouldered Hawk. Red-tailed Hawk. American Kestrel Chimney Swift. Almost any woodpecker, but listen especially for Red-cockaded. Eastern Wood Pewee. Great Crested Flycatcher. Eastern Kingbird. Purple Martin. Blue Jay. American Crow. Carolina Chickadee. Tufted Titmouse.

   Also Brown-headed Nuthatch. Carolina Wren. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Eastern Bluebird. Northern Mockingbird. Brown Thrasher. Loggerhead Shrike. White-eyed Vireo. Red-eyed Vireo. Yellow-throated Vireo. Pine Warbler. Prairie Warbler. Common Yellowthroat. Hooded Warbler. Yellow-breasted Chat. Summer Tanager. Northern Cardinal. Blue Grosbeak. Indigo Bunting. Bachman's Sparrow. Red-winged Blackbird. Brown-headed Cowbird. Orchard Oriole.

   Try to track down every song or call you don't recognize to the bird who is making it. There is nothing like actually watching a bird vocalize to fix the song or call the bird in your mind. The possibilities are pretty much limited to the birds above. But that's about 50 species, many of which you already would know by sound: crows, jays, chickadees, titmice, cardinals, etc.

   If you take that same idea to riparian woodlands, such as Logtown, Spence's Woods, or Pascagoula River Wildlife Management Area, for example, you will find many of the same species listed above. But certain species might be present in riparian woodlands that you wouldn't be likely to find in pine woods: Barred Owl. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Acadian Flycatcher. Wood Thrush. Northern Parula. Yellow-throated Warbler. American Redstart. Prothonotary Warbler. Swainson's Warbler. Kentucky Warbler.

   Besides the birds one would expect to hear, there are any number of very visible birds that are not noted for songs but are likely to fly over as you are listening to a little guy: herons (notably the night-herons), ibises, ducks (Wood Duck), kites, hawks, woodpeckers, swallows.

   But in the time a birder does his homework in what amounts to two habitats --- pine woods and riparian woodlands --- he or she would have seen and/or heard all of the birds that nest away from the immediate coastal area of sand, water and marshes.

   It takes more than one lesson to learn bird songs. The fact is, unless one is exceptionally gifted, it could take several trips into particular habitat to get things down pat. And, come successive nesting seasons, there's a review process. "I know that song. I've heard it before --- oh, yes, I remember now --- the spiral sort of wind-up songs, coming from very high, that's got to be a Yellow-throated Warbler." And once recognizing the song, narrow down the search area and find that bird.

   You can do it. By all means obtain a cassette or CD of bird songs. (Editor’s note – nowadays (2016) songs can be heard on phone Apps – a good one is IBIRD PRO).  Select the species from the above lists and listen to them. Listen to them again. Do not crowd your mind with songs that you don't expect to hear.

   Suppose you followed my advice and went to the pine woods. You amazed yourself. You found almost everything that was supposed to be there. But you missed a Yellow-breasted Chat, or a Prairie Warbler. Both songs are very distinctive, but the chat is highly variable and the Prairie Warbler can be quite faint. If you dial them up on a recording, you probably will say to yourself that, yes, you did hear them. And next time you will know exactly what to listen for and where to look.

 Editor's note: Judith Toups first "aired" this bird-song advice in May of 1999. It is repeated here for the edification of all birders.