Like many of us, birding began as a visual endeavor for me. Over the years I have become more and more interested in bird song and vocalizations and have been amazed year after year at the variability within species. What I have witnessed in the past few years has been incredibly eye opening and caused me to rethink what I am willing to "count" as a heard only bird. I also think audio recordings may have a significant role to play. It started on Staten Island when searching for the reported Bell's Vireo and Shai Mitra, Joe DiCostanzo and I listened to a House Wren sing a perfect version of a Bell's Vireo song multiple times before going back to it's typical song. Fast forward to this spring and I watched an oriole sing the phrasing wonderfully for Summer Tanager in a spot where many people were chasing one. In Prospect Park a Black-throated Blue was doing a close enough version of a Cerulean to get a handful of birders scurrying the paths near Rick's Place. In Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, last week I watched a Gray-cheeked Thrush singing for 15 minutes. It was singing a textbook Gray-cheeked song and was not a bird that would have raised an eyebrow for Bicknells; no particular reddish tones, lower mandible dark from tip more than half way to the base. On a hunch, I played a Bicknell's tape from Sibley's app a single time, perhaps a 10 second recording? I watched the same thrush (which never left my field of view) change it's song and begin to end with an upswing instead of a falling note. In essence, going from singing Gray-cheecked to singing Bicknell's. It did this multiple times before going back to it's original song. The idea that birds other than known mimics can alter their phrasing and repeat bird song other than their own is pretty incredible. It reminds me of a conversation I had with Doug Gochfeld about his field research working with Black-throated Blue Warblers. He said by the end of the season the researchers could identify individual males within the study group by their vocalizations even before reading their bands.
I bring this up to raise awareness that the identification of rare birds perhaps should not end with "I heard it!" after a playback. So for me (and countless others), who mainly use Ebird for sightings because we want to contribute to science, I believe this raises a concern for accuracy of data and should be taken into consideration when playbacks are the impetus for a "heard only" bird. At the very least, a note of "heard only, after playback" or "responded to recording" should be made in the comments section. I would be interested in hearing if others have had similar experiences (off list if you prefer). Good (and accurate) birding! Sean Sime Brooklyn, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
