Songbird's Call

[Bluffs Birder]

Hi All,

For the life of me I can't figure out what bird this is calling out.  It was high up on a pine tree branch but could not be seen.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi9SxaussSc

Thanks,
Walter

[Halton Hills]

.

Though songs can vary greatly in the same species .......it sounds to me like an Eastern Meadowlark.

One recorded version is here:

http://www.naturesongs.com/eame1.wav

.

[Brian Bailey]

It sounds to me like a Fox Sparrow.

I don't hear them sing very often, but the tone and pattern sound about right.  I haven't seen one yet this year, but they should be arriving anytime about now.

BB

[Bluffs Birder]

Thanks for the suggestions "Halton" and Brian, unfortunately though, I'm not sure that either is correct 100%.  I'm thinking that the bird might be roughly about Sparrow-size given the strength of the call...I know that this is not always an accurate method for bird identification though, it's just a thought.  Any other suggestions as to what bird this might be?

Walter

[Carl-Adam]

It is a fox sparrow I worked with them in the summer out in new brunswick hearing that song many times..

[Bluffs Birder]

Oops, my bad!!!

I rechecked the sound file that I was using for IDing and now realize that the recording was made in a different region of North America.  I didn't know that the Fox Sparrow's song varies so much from region to region.  I found some NY-ON-QC recordings on the internet and the song matched-up nicely.  My apologies to you Brian Bailey and thankyou Carl-Adam.

Walter

[Brian Bailey]

Apparently there is a lot of regional variation in the song.  I did a search for song recordings, and most sounded completely different.  The "Birds of Canada" series CDs have the version of the call that I've heard in Ontario.

BB

[GStuart]

I don't have the book in front of me, but as I recall, James Rising in his "A Guide to the Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the United States and Canada" splits the Fox Sparrow into four distinct species, so it is not surprising that there is a great deal of regional variation in song.

[Bluffs Birder]

Upon further inspection, my Sibley Guide To Birds lists the subspecies as:

Thick-billed (California)
Slate-colored (Interior West)
Sooty (Pacific)
Red (Tiaga) - the one we see here in Ontario

Under the Voice descriptions, all are completely different.

[Tyler]

Yep a lovely Fox Sparrow

We had 2 this past summer every day near Camp. One on the 'runway trees' i.e a beach ridge and the other guarding Polar Bear alley. The one at the runway was nicknamed the video game bird by some of the other researchers due to that loud near constant bubbly song.

During the first year of the breeding bird atlas I remember having my morning coffee on the front steps of the MNR staff cabin and listening to a Fox Sparrow singing against a Northern Mockingbird in downtown Moosonee. It made for a nice coffee.

 If anyone can ever get north during the breeding season it can be quite interesting. All these sandpipers who are silent or make only peeps down here have quite impressive songs up on the breeding grounds.

[Bluffs Birder]

Yesterday while birding Rosetta McClain Gardens, BIGFRANK and I found the Fox Sparrows, 2 of them, feeding on the ground under the trees where I made the above recording on March 27th.  After a couple of mornings of listening to them calling out, it was great to finally see them.  Thanks again for the help.

Walter