Listening to a Continent Sing

A wonderful rollicking jumble of buzzes and piping whistles--I love the energy in these songs. And I love trying to dissect what is on his mind as he crafts his singing program.

In the first ten songs, I can see in Raven-lite four basic song patterns, delivered in the following sequence: A B C B C B C C D C. But my ears cannot track the details in these fast-faced songs, and as a result I hear what seems to be an endless variety. The variety is enhanced when he shortens some songs, lengthens others, or when he repeats fewer or more elements of a given sound within a song, so that no two songs seem exactly alike.

Background

Song sparrow, tufted titmouse, American crow, Carolina chickadee, yellow-throated vireo, Carolina wren, American goldfinch. Distant roar of water over the dam at Buckhorn.

Photo by John Van de Graaff