Hi all, I received a few questions after my post last night (not sure if they were to just me or the List), so here are some quick answers -- not at all comprehensive. Plus there are some great web sites and other resources on this topic, plus some real experts on our listserv.
Many (but not all) songbirds migrate at night, and many (but not all) of these migrants give distinctive calls while they are migrating overhead. Some of these calls are different from any calls we hear from these species during the day; others are the same calls they give in flight during the day, or in other social contexts. A lot of attention has been devoted in recent years to figuring out how to identify the species giving these calls, and using this knowledge to monitor bird populations, track migrations, and study the risks to birds from lighted buildings, wind farms, etc. Many birders can identify a subset of these night flight calls, with varying degrees of confidence, and for many of us it is a challenging yet exciting learning process. For me, this has become one of my favorite kinds of birding -- just standing in my yard and listening to the invisible stream of migrants passing overhead in spring and fall. I have heard more thrushes passing over my house in a single night (hundreds and hundreds) than I have probably seen during the day in a lifetime of birding. To get started on this learning process, check out: www.oldbird.org<http://www.oldbird.org> http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp/research/nocturnal-migrant-flight-call-research http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdcalls There is a new protocol for entering counts of night flight calls into eBird: http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1010492-entering-nocturnal-flight-call-counts And there is even an entire listserv devoted to discussions of night flight calls: http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME good listening! KEN Ken Rosenberg Conservation Science Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2412 607-342-4594 (cell) k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu> On May 21, 2013, at 12:19 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg <k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu>> wrote: One of my best spring listening for night flight calls is happening now - in the past 15 minutes I've heard nearly 50 thrushes (mostly Swainsons), 6 BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS, AMERICAN BITTERN, SOLITARY and SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, etc. Ken Sent from my iPhone -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
