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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.

Learning Bird Song - Roost Special 

Week Two

Nice job last week!🎉

This week we'll be covering the topic of GROOVE!

Watch the video below AFTER you've completed all activites from last week...Then, complete the activities that follow.

Enjoy the magical world of bird song🎉💕

 

Week Two Activity

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

PART I

Research Day – You’ll want to have a notebook, pen and access to Cornell, Audubon or your favorite app.

  1. So far, throughout this course you’ve identified an Ambassador Bird and begun to learn its songs. Today, I’d like you to choose one additional Ambassador bird (You can choose from any family, as long as it is a fairly common bird in your neck of the woods this time of year).
  2. Great! Now listen to the song of each of your 2 Ambassadors. See if you can determine their TEMPO in relation to one another. So, who is the fastest and who is the slowest… etc.
  3. Make notes about what you discover.

PART II

Outside Day – Bring a pen and journal with you.

  1. Head outside to your favorite spot to sit.
  2. Settle in and after you are calm and grounded, close your eyes.
  3. Listen to the songs and calls that are around you today.
  4. Choose one bird to focus your attention on and listen for where (if at all) it pauses in its song, as well as the number of phrases it has.
    1. **Sometimes, the concept of "phrases" can be a head-scratcher for some folks. For now, just play with it in your own way. We'll be covering this concept in depth on Wednesday. But, we'd like you to give it a shot on your own first. That way, you'll have a foundation and we can take it to a deeper place when we're all together.

BONUS 🎉– Repeat this exercise with 2 other bird songs. Make notes about what you discovered out there today and share with the FORUM with everyone.

 

PART III

Outside Day – Bring a pen and journal with you.

  1. Head outside to your favorite spot to sit.
  2. Settle in and after you are calm and grounded, close your eyes.
  3. Listen to the songs and calls that are around you today.
  4. Chose one song in particular to focus on. Pay attention to where the song rises and where it falls.
  5. Take out your journal and draw what you are hearing. That’s right… do your best to depict on the paper what you are hearing in order to show it visually. Have fun with it! 

PART IV

Outside Day – Bring a pen and journal with you.

  1. Head outside to your favorite spot to sit.
  2. Settle in and after you are calm and grounded, close your eyes.
  3. Listen to the songs and calls that are around you today.
  4. Chose one song in particular to focus on.
  5. Now, describe or draw each of the elements of GROOVE (tempo, rhythm & pitch) for this one song.

BONUS – If you had to describe or draw the bird based on its song alone, what would you say or draw? Try that. Let me know in the FORUM how it goes.

HEY!  NICE WORK THIS WEEK!!!

I’m looking forward to hearing your stories soon.

Learning Bird Song - Roost Special 

Week Three

Way to go last week!🎉

This week we'll be covering the topic of Quality!

Watch the video below AFTER you've completed all activities from last week...Then, complete the activities that follow.

Enjoy the magical world of bird song🎉💕

 

Week Three Activities

Begin this week by, reading over the intention you created during our first mentor session to get the good juju flowing. 

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

PART I

Research Day –

*You’ll need a small notebook & something to write with today. 

1. Choose one of these families below:

~ SPARROW or WREN~ 

(*If you are not in North America - Choose the family of a small song bird in your region)

2. Now, listen to the songs of at least 3 members of this family on the Cornell or Audubon site or your favorite app.

3. In your journal, describe the quality of sound that is similar and consistent amongst each of the members you chose in that family.

BONUS ~ Jot down what you notice about how the quality of this family is different from or similar to the quality of one of your ambassador's songs.

 

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS (aka...Previous Students):
If you do not feel confident with the quality of this family... please do this Activity as suggested.
If you do feel confident with the quality of this family... then follow along with this Activity using the Buntings.

PART II

 

You’ll need a small notebook & something to write with today. 

1. Listen to the quality of the songs of a few members of the WARBLER family on the Cornell or Audubon site. (If you are outside North America - Choose a family of tree-dwelling song birds)

2. In your journal, describe the quality of sound that is similar and consistent amongst each of the members you chose in that family.

3. Share your discoveries thus far in the Forum.

BONUS ~ Jot down what you notice about how the quality of this family is different from or similar to the quality of one of your ambassador's songs.

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS:
If you do not feel confident with the quality of this family... please do this Activity as suggested.
If you do feel confident with the quality of this family... then follow along with this Activity using the Cuckoo family.

 

PART III

*You’ll need a small notebook & something to write with today. 

1. Listen to the quality of the songs of a few members of the THRUSH family on the Cornell or Audubon site.

(If you are outside North America - Choose a family of very melodious song birds)

2. In your journal, describe the quality of sound that is similar and consistent amongst each of the members you chose in that family.

BONUS ~ Jot down what you notice about how the quality of this family is different from or similar to the quality of one of your ambassador's songs.

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS:
If you do not feel confident with the quality of this family... please do this Activity as suggested.
If you do feel confident with the quality of this family... then follow along with this Activity using the Plover family.

PART IV

Today, you can opt to do this Activity either inside (with recordings) or outside with the birds themselves.

1. Compare the quality of sound for each of the 3 families you worked with over the last few days.

2.  As a way to distinguish between the families, jot down the specific element of quality (VOLUME, TONE, TEXTURE) that you think is the most pronounced in each of the families.

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS:
Please do this Activity as suggested using the families you chose.

HEY!  NICE WORK THIS WEEK!!!

I’m looking forward to hearing your stories soon.

PART V - BONUS

*Today's activity will take place outside.

  1. Head outside to your favorite spot and allow yourself to sink into the beauty of all the sounds you are hearing.
  2. Try your best to simply let yourself be there with the sounds without attempting to identify them or pick them apart.
  3. This activity may appear to be frivolous at first, but it is really quite rich.

NICE WORK THIS WEEK!!!

Learning Bird Song - Roost Special 

Week Four

Way to go last week!🎉

This week we'll be covering the topic of Baseline Height!

Watch the video below AFTER you've completed all activities from last week...Then, complete the activities that follow.

Enjoy the magical world of bird song🎉💕

 

Week Four Activities

Begin this week by, reading over the intention you created during our first mentor session to get the good juju flowing. 

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

PART I

Now you get to put this to the test….

Grab your notebook and make a list of 25 of the most common birds in your microbiome this time of year using e-bird or the range maps in your field guide.

**OMG... Does this seem like a lot?

You'll see in just a bit... It's really not!

You might think this is just busywork, but it is actually essential to taking your knowledge of bird song (and birds in general) to the next level.

BONUS - Chose another one of your favorite biomes (a body of water you frequent, a place you plan to vacation, etc.) and do the exercise above for that area.  

PREVIOUS STUDENTS:
Make a list of 25 migratory birds (*this does NOT include common resident birds) you can expect to see this spring/summer in your area. Use this list to complete the remainder of your Activities for the week. M.C. BONUS - identify 3 rare/uncommon birds who have been known to stop over in your area from time to time. Look to e-Bird or local birders/farmers/hunters/etc to uncover this information. Add one of these bonus birds to your Activities this week.

PART II

*You’ll need a small notebook & something to write with today. 

  1. Choose five birds from the list you created yesterday that you are not very familiar with.
  2. Listen to their songs ...and calls.
  3. Do any of them share the same or similar habitat with one another? If so, do you notice anything that is similar in their songs? Can you find a way to distinguish them from one another?

 

BONUS... Go find one of these birds! You may have to go to a habitat you don't often frequent in order to do so. Feel free to use E-bird to help you with this. ;-) 

PART III

*You’ll need a small notebook & something to write with today. 

  1.  List three birds who can be found singing in each height range category below.

Water

Ground   

Shrub 

Low Tree   

Mid Tree   

Canopy

........

PART IV

Spend time outside today (at least 20 minutes) to see if your research from the last few days matches your own observations.

Make any necessary changes or additions to your notes based on your observations.

......

PART V

Most of today's activity will take place outside, after completing the first step inside.

  1.  Choose 5 families of birds who you can find in your area this time of year. They can be ones you've worked with already.
  2. Now, head out to your favorite spot and make a note of what their typical baseline/singing height is based on YOUR OWN observations.

 BONUS - Compare your observations to those you find in any resources you can find about this topic.

 

NICE WORK THIS WEEK!!!