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Learning Bird Song - Roost Special 

Week One

We'll be covering two topics this week.

Who is it and What are they saying.

Watch both videos below then complete the activities that follow.

Enjoy the magical world of bird song🎉💕

 
 

Week One Activity

Enjoy the following activities one at a time over the next few days.

PART I

1. Choose an Ambassador Bird from one of the following bird families:

~ THRUSH, SPARROW, WREN, FINCH, WARBLER ~

*For example: You could choose the American Robin as the Ambassador Bird for the thrush family.
*Be sure it is a common local bird this time of year (spring'ish).

*If you don't have one of these families where you live, simply choose a bird that is a common local bird in your neighborhood this time of year.

*The range maps in your field guides or the websites linked below will help you figure this out.

2. Listen to its “song” on either Cornell’s All About Bird’s website or Audubon’s website. 

3. Listen to the sound often throughout the week...allow it to become so familiar you grow bored of it (if that's possible).

PART II

  1. Find a place close to your home/work (even right out your back door is great) where you can sit undisturbed for at least 20 minutes... or more if you have the time.
  2. Go to this spot and listen to the bird sounds you are hearing. Focus on the calls/songs of two or three different species (if you can’t tell whether or not they are different species, simply listen for 2 or 3 different bird sounds).
  3. After a good 10 minutes of listening, take your note pad out and jot down the ways in which the sounds you are hearing are similar or different from your Ambassador Bird’s songs and calls.  *Don’t worry about bird names or any sort of technical terminology; just use your own words to describe what you hear.
  4. Continue to play with this activity throughout the week with other species.

PART III

  1. Based on Video 2 ......Go listen to the birds in your backyard/office/on your favorite walk.
  2. Do your best to FOCUS on just ONE song.
  3. Make up a mnemonic for that song.
  4. Then, see if you can get an ID on the bird while you are out there. If you can't .. make up a name for the bird yourself, either based on it markings, behavior or song.
  5. LATER---- After you've committed this mnemonic to memory.... Compare it to the mnemonic of your Ambassador Bird. Listen for how they are similar or different and note what you observe in your journal.