Hi all, Interesting thread! My experience with *Catharus*, in general for North, Central and South America, is that species in this genus regularly use what people call the flight calls on the ground, during the day, and certainly in situations outside typical periods of nocturnal migration (of course, no one has a clue about tropical *Catharus* and what even constitutes migration or movement annual and diel timing for those species, so my characterization is immediately biased). I have a recording, filed somewhere, that Marshall Iliff sent to me of an Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush producing what is presumably a "flight call" type vocalization. I've heard similar calls from Russet and Spotted Nightingale-Thrushes as well.
Re: North American species --- it's always seemed to me that Hermit Thrush uses "flight calls" much more frequently on the ground in non-breeding/wintering locations than other species, though I've heard Swainson's Thrush give "flight calls" in Ecuador in the winter on several occasions and Bicknell's give a "flight call" in Cuba (once). I'd be interested to hear from anyone with Veery/Gray-cheeked experience from South America during winter to know if people have heard "flight calls" on the ground there. Regarding the thrush recordings from many years ago - it's worth reviewing the clips (over and over is a good idea) contained on Bill and Michael's CD-ROM, which you should all have anyway! It's easier to navigate than this thing you call "tape," Ken. Is that like a "record?" :) Best, Andrew On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 11:20, Magnus Robb <magnus.r...@xs4all.nl> wrote: > I've noticed that in Common Blackbirds Turdus merula, the 'flight call' is also given in a specific context when a presumed migrant or wintering bird is on the ground. If my interpretation was correct, these were migrants aware that they were on another, apparently resident Blackbird's territory and making clear that they had no aggressive intentions. They didn't necessarily fly away very soon afterwards, but they seemed to be tolerated by the territory holders, up to a point. > > It always reminded me of people who stop their car where they know they shouldn't and leave their hazard lights flashing to say 'I'll be off in a minute or two, honest!'. > > Magnus Robb > > > On 12 Oct 2011, at 16:06:01, Christopher Heckscher wrote: > >> This is a very interesting question indeed. I've spent many years studying Veery calls. A call will be used in multiple contexts if the accomplishment of that call is warranted in a give social context. So, a Veery call will be used in flight and on the ground if the accomplishment (or function) is appropriate for the given social context. The flight call is simply a call that can function appropriately both in the air during migration and in a forest. Very little is known about calling behavior of South American Catharus but they probably have comparable call repertoires. >> >> >> Christopher M. Heckscher, Ph.D. >> Assistant Professor, Environmental Science & Ecology >> Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources >> Delaware State University >> 1200 N. DuPont Highway >> Dover, DE 19901 >> >> >> >> ________________________________ >> From: bounce-38143835-10105...@list.cornell.edu [ bounce-38143835-10105...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Jesse Ellis [ calocit...@gmail.com] >> Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 10:49 AM >> To: NFC-L >> Subject: Re: [nfc-l] Hermit Thrush flight calls on ground >> >> Seems like all the North American Catharus do this, no? I'm pretty sure I've heard Veery doing flight calls on the ground as well. An interesting question, then, would be whether Central and S. American Catharus have such calls.... >> >> On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 9:21 AM, Kenneth Victor Rosenberg < k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu>> wrote: >> I wonder if Bill Evans could re-release the "thrush-tape" that Jeff is referring to on CD (or podcast?) -- that is still probably the best primer for learning the basic thrushes, and lot of us got started with that tape! >> >> KEN >> >> >> Ken Rosenberg >> Conservation Science Program >> Cornell Lab of Ornithology >> 607-254-2412<tel:607-254-2412> >> 607-342-4594<tel:607-342-4594> (cell) >> k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu> >> >> On Oct 12, 2011, at 9:38 AM, Jeff Wells wrote: >> >> Yes, and remember Bill's classic thrush tape in which he had, if I am remembering correctly, both Wood Thrush and Bicknell's Thrush singing on the breeding grounds and interspersing the flight calls in the song? That was such a great tape! >> >> Last year when I was in northern Quebec I had Gray-cheeked doing this as well but I could never record it..... >> >> Fun stuff! >> >> Jeff >> >> Jeff Wells >> International Boreal Conservation Campaign >> Boreal Songbird Initiative >> >> >> On Oct 11, 2011, at 9:46 PM, "Kenneth Victor Rosenberg" <k...@cornell.edu <mailto:k...@cornell.edu>> wrote: >> >> Jeff et al. >> >> I have fairly frequently heard Hermit Thrush giving it's nfc on the ground at first light -- especially in early winter, often interspersed with "chuck" notes just as you describe. I have also heard both Swainson's and Wood Thrush giving what sounds like the nfc interspersed with song. I believe that this is one of the ways that Bill Evans first figured out all the thrush calls -- by matching them to calls heard in various contexts during the day and visually confirmed. >> >> KEN >> >> >> Ken Rosenberg >> Conservation Science Program >> Cornell Lab of Ornithology >> 607-254-2412<tel:607-254-2412> >> 607-342-4594<tel:607-342-4594> (cell) >> <mailto:k...@cornell.edu>k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu> >> >> On Oct 11, 2011, at 5:09 PM, Jeff Wells wrote: >> >> Yesterday morning I was out in my suburban yard in south-central Maine watching a nice morning flight of birds moving over and through when I began hearing the “chuck” call of a Hermit Thrush from the neighbor’s backyard. Soon it began alternating between the “chuck” call and the drawn-out “whee” nocturnal flight call. I went inside to get my camera to record it (my recording gear was packed away) and by then it had flown up across the street into the top of a tree. At that point it began just doing the flight call with no more of the “chuck” call and then it moved to another taller tree 100 yards away where it stayed and continued doing the call for a bit before suddenly stopping. It may have flown away or it may have just stopped calling and dropped down somewhere nearby but I never saw or heard it again. >> >> I was able to get some of the calls on some video clips, one of which I posted up on my YouTube channel for anyone interested. I think I have some recordings of Hermit Thrushes interspersing the nocturnal call into songs during the breeding season and I know I have a recording of a Swainson’s Thrush doing that. >> >> Anyway, you can hear the calls on the video titled “Hermit Thrush giving nocturnal flight call” at: <http://www.youtube.com/birdconservation> http://www.youtube.com/birdconservation >> >> Interestingly, the second call it gives on the video is much burrier than what I think of as normal and some of the calls seem a bit shorter than what I am used to hearing at night. >> >> Jeff Wells >> Gardiner, Maine >> -- >> NFC-L List Info: >> Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> >> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave< http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> Archives: >> The Mail Archive< http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> >> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> >> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >! >> -- >> >> >> -- >> NFC-L List Info: >> Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> >> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave< http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> Archives: >> The Mail Archive< http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> >> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> >> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >! >> -- >> >> >> >> -- >> Jesse Ellis >> Post-doctoral Researcher >> Dept. of Zoology >> University of Wisconsin - Madison >> Madison, Dane Co, WI >> -- >> NFC-L List Info: >> Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> >> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave< http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> Archives: >> The Mail Archive< http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> >> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> >> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >! >> -- >> >> >> -- >> >> NFC-L List Info: >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >> >> ARCHIVES: >> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html >> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L >> 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html >> >> Please submit your observations to eBird: >> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >> >> -- >> >> > > > -- > > NFC-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
