Listening to a Continent Sing

With the wind gusting here on the Blue Ridge, jets flying overhead, two male songbirds hold forth. An indigo bunting and hooded warbler sing side by side on a limb overhanging a small clearing beside the Parkway. They take turns, the indigo bunting seemingly in charge, the hooded warbler waiting to sing immediately after the bunting finishes . . . until, it seems, the warbler loses patience with the pace. At 1:00, the warbler jumps ahead, singing two songs in succession, forcing the bunting to delay his next song by two to three seconds. The warbler falls in line again, following the bunting, until 1:52 when he again hurries to a second song, again forcing the bunting to delay.

Background

Red-eyed vireo, scarlet tanager, indigo bunting. Wind and jet

Photo by John Van de Graaff

Photo by John Van de Graaff