12 Thursday, June 16, 2022
Coastal View News • Carpinteria, California
The power of sound
CVN
IN THE NATUREHOOD NANCY BARON I wake up in the morning torn between a desire to save the world, and savor the world, it makes it hard to plan the day.” —E.B. White I recently left my job of 22 years working as a communications coach for environmental scientists. It’s time to spend more time savoring the world – although I will continue conservation work. To celebrate my transition, I headed off with my husband Ken Weiss and friends Trisha and Ross Beaty for a 400 kilometer bicycle ride through the Burgundy region of France. We went expecting fabulous food and some of the world’s best wines. What we did not expect, however, was the intensity of boisterous bird song surrounding us as we pedaled through the verdant countryside of huge trees, open fields, vineyards, and trails that flank the canals that lace the region. It struck me how “the old country” is much better zoned to protect agricultural lands and open space. Houses and other developments are concentrated in the towns. There is green space in between. As a result, bird life flourishes. Each morning we were surrounded by symphonic sound. Yet, not knowing the birds of Europe, I had little idea of which birds were in the orchestra. The singers were shrouded by shrubs, tucked behind the tree leaves. Then I remembered The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin Bird ID, an app. It is the Shazam of bird songs. The sound ID feature, which matches the sound it records against a database of known bird sounds, conjures up the name and photo of the singing bird like the magic of its namesake Merlin, the mythical wizard. Cornell provides the app for free. I pulled out my iPhone, turned on the Merlin app, and saw I could download the songs of the Birds of Europe. Holding up the phone, I tapped record. I saw the sounds around me appear as a sonogram on a graph as Merlin identified the singers in real time. It quickly generated a list of the birds being recorded. Each time the bird sang, its name lit up in yellow. Merlin deciphered our soundscapes: the melodious run-on of Nightingales – reminiscent of our Mockingbirds – the see-sawing songs of Chifchafs, the repetitious two notes of Great Tits. There were the coos of Eurasian Collared Doves (which have now made their way here) the high tinkling of Eurasian Skylarks displaying overhead as we pedaled by fields (recall the poem “In Flanders Fields”) and the piercing screams of House Swifts flying high for insects, then bombing between the buildings like fighter jets as they returned to their nests. And everywhere are the caroling Eurasian Blackbirds; they are actually a thrush like our American Robins, but are much more gifted singers. The pace of our bike trip slowed as the songs halted our tracks: What bird is that? Sometimes Merlin’s Sound ID came up with an unlikely suggestion like: “Snow Goose.” The app is not foolproof and birders are cautioned to verify its offerings by checking the song against their
KEN WEISS
Nancy Baron uses her app to listen to bird songs. European countries concentrate development in the cities, protecting the countryside for agriculture and providing habitats for birds.
JOHN CALLENDER JOHN CALLENDER
ABOVE, LEFT: Male Red-winged Blackbirds battle with song as they vie for territory and mates. The multiple mates are cryptically brown and streaked. Females do all the work of weaving nests and raising the young. ABOVE: A Northern Mockingbird – which gets its name from copying other birds’ songs – can have a repertoire of 150 songs. They sing incessantly, even at night.
The Merlin app records and identifies the birds that are singing nearby in real time. This list was recorded during a bicycle trip in Burgundy. data base and spotting the bird, especially before adding the bird to a species list uploaded to eBird, a global database of sightings that tracks birds’ distribution and abundance. Since I have returned home, I find I’m paying more attention to the bird sounds, reflecting on the power of song and what is means to the songsters. Why do birds sing? There are myriad reasons. Birds battle with song. Song is the weapon of choice for males to defend territory from other males. Early in the morning they declare their presence on their habitat. They also sing to show strength and vigor. Females are attracted to the lustiest singers. Typically, it’s the males that produce longer and more complex vocalizations that we think of as song, while females more often have calls. Birds have a special organ called a
JOHN CALLENDER
syrinx, made up of two parts that enables them to produce complex overlapping sounds that are pleasing to our ears. But to other birds, these sounds have more nuanced meaning. According to bird expert David Sibley, “their vocal performance depends on control of the two-part syrinx which enables them to make two sounds at once,” and effectively harmonize with themselves. The song of a Red-winged Blackbird – for example “Pull-the-LEE-ver!”– has an overlay of a hum and a whistle at the same time. Sibley describes a bird’s song as “a kind of gymnastics routine, a series of elaborate jumps and the judges (potential mates and rivals) are looking for height and speed along with precision and consistency.” Paying attention to bird songs “adds another dimension to how you exist in the world,” says Christian Cooper, a New York City birder, in an upcoming National Geographic TV series.
LEFT: American Robins, like all members of the thrush family, are gifted vocalists that sing at dusk and dawn. June is the one best times of year to learn bird songs as birds are breeding. Just as we recognize the voices of those we know well, there is joy in identifying bird sounds and knowing who is nearby. Merlin can help answer that question: Who is singing that song? Our local birdwatching group, Carpinteria Birdwatchers, led by John Callender, will hold its free monthly Zoom meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 16. The meeting will include a tutorial on using Merlin Sound ID. Details about joining the meeting or viewing it afterwards are available at carpbirdwatchers.org. In an upcoming column, I will cover tips for remembering bird calls. Nancy Baron is a naturalist, and author. She and her writer husband live on a small organic avocado ranch near Carpinteria where they share their naturehood with wildlife. Nancy welcomes questions and comments at nancybaron@gmail.com.