Another bird sound quiz

[Ted Floyd]

Hey, folks. Alrighty, that last one was fun, er, "fun."

Here's a new one:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/244160651

And another cut from the same bird:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/244160711

You can hear several species in those two cuts, but the one I'm talking about is the slowly and rather steadily repeated whistle, falling in pitch a bit and wavering, uttered every 2-3 seconds. The bird vocalized like this for at least a minute at a time for much of the morning. Audio-recorded (and seen, so I know what it is) near the intersection of Lefthand Canyon Drive and Old Stage Road in Boulder County, yesterday, Wed., June 17.

Any takers?

Enjoy!

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County

[Mike Blatchley]

Ted,

I'll take the bait.... My first reaction was Western Wood-Pewee, but your recording doesn't exhibit that raspy sound quality they have.  So I'll go with my second reaction, Lesser Goldfinch.

Fun games!!

Mike Blatchley

Longmont

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[Mary Kay Waddington]

Ted,

I love your bird quizzes and your accounts of what you've seen/heard!  You have admonished us to make more recordings.  I'd love to comply but don't have a clue how.  Could you give us a short tutorial on what hardware/software is best to use?

Oh, and my guess is Say's Phoebe.

Mary Kay Waddington

Englewood, Arapahoe County

On Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 7:22 PM Ted Floyd <tedfl...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Diana Beatty]

Ted probably knows a better way, but here's a simple way I have used to make half-way decent recordings of bird song.

I downloaded the app called Song Sleuth onto my smartphone.  It was designed for you to record a song and it would ID the bird from your recording.  I have found its ID skills wanting, but it makes decent recording files.  When I hear a bird I want to record, I go into the app and go through the motions of recording the sound as if for ID purposes.  I reject the ID offering of it usually, but I then use the 'share' option to e-mail the recording file to my personal e-mail address.   Back at home, I download the file from my e-mail and upload it into eBird.

Diana Beatty

El Paso County

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All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

[Joey Angstman]

I want to say Say’s Phoebe but that feels too obvious.

Joey Angstman
Greeley, CO

[John Drummond]

Ted:

Say's Phoebe

John Drummond

Colorado Springs

Sent from my iPad

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[Susan Rosine]

Say's Phoebe

Susan Rosine
Brighton

[Caleb A]

Hey Ted!

I'll take the bait: I think it's a Say's Phoebe as well.

The birds are happy, and so am I

~Caleb Alons, Larimer County

[Karen Coupland]

While it sounds a lot like a Say's Phoebe, the pitch seems too low and it sounds a little sharper or brassier.  But I have no clue what it would be otherwise.

Karen

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[John Ealy]

I'll also go with lesser goldfinch.

John Ealy

Roxborough Park, Douglas County, CO

On Thursday, June 18, 2020 at 10:39:36 PM UTC-6, Mike Blatchley wrote:

Ted,

I'll take the bait.... My first reaction was Western Wood-Pewee, but your recording doesn't exhibit that raspy sound quality they have.  So I'll go with my second reaction, Lesser Goldfinch.

Fun games!!

Mike Blatchley

Longmont

On Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 7:22 PM Ted Floyd <tedfl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey, folks. Alrighty, that last one was fun, er, "fun."

Here's a new one:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/244160651

And another cut from the same bird:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/244160711

You can hear several species in those two cuts, but the one I'm talking about is the slowly and rather steadily repeated whistle, falling in pitch a bit and wavering, uttered every 2-3 seconds. The bird vocalized like this for at least a minute at a time for much of the morning. Audio-recorded (and seen, so I know what it is) near the intersection of Lefthand Canyon Drive and Old Stage Road in Boulder County, yesterday, Wed., June 17.

Any takers?

Enjoy!

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County

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[Ted Floyd]

Thanks for the response, everybody. Despite enthusiasm--here on COBirds, as well as over at Facebook and in my inbox--for Say phoebe, mountain bluebird, and lesser goldfinch, it is not any of those species. The mystery songster is in a bird family nobody has come close to yet. Anybody else want to chime in now? :-)

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County

P.s. Up at Rabbit Mountain, northern Boulder County, this sunny solstice morn, June 20, Hannah Floyd and I saw a pair of brown thrashers bringing food to an apparent nest near the parking area. Didn't investigate the matter too closely, but I imagine that "apparent" nest is a real one.

[Sebastian Patti]

To my ears this sounds like the persistent begging of a young bird, possibly even an owl??

sebasti...@hotmail.com
Sebastian T. Patti
770 S. Grand Avenue

Unit 3088

Los Angeles, CA 90017 
CELL: 773/304-7488

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From: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Ted Floyd <tedfl...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2020 7:33 PM
To: Colorado Birds <cob...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [cobirds] Re: Another bird sound quiz

 

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[Ted Floyd]

Well, Sebastian, I absolutely considered that selfsame strigine possibility. Here's my story. At a great distance, I was thinking I'd maybe come upon a little troupe of piñon jays. As I got closer, I thought the mystery bird was going to be a bluebird, although not a mountain bluebird; instead, I was thinking eastern bluebird, not out of the question in the Boulder County foothills in summer and known to breed there occasionally. Then, as I closed in on the songster, I, like you, was wondering if I had one of the "small mountain owls," and northern saw-whet in particular.

But it's not an owl, and it's not a bluebird (or any other kind of thrush), and it's not a jay (or any other corvid), and it's not, as we've already established, a finch or flycatcher. It's an adult of a common diurnal species in the foothills. Anybody else? :-)

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County

P.s. While I got y'all's attention: Kudos to Peter Gent on his discovery of Boulder County Cassin sparrows. And shame on the rest of you (I'm joking of course...) for going to see Peter's sparrows. But there is something to ponder here. The last time we had a Cassin sparrow discovery in Boulder County, it proved to be a five-YEAR phenomenon (2009-2013). Looking at my own records, at least one detection per summer in each of those five years, I can see that they were all clustered within the narrow range of dates of June 15 through July 5. So right now is the time to go out and find more of these spectacular, skylarking sparrows. With dedicated searching, I wouldn't be surprised if we find many more in the next couple of weeks. Or maybe it's a one-off. But we won't know if we don't go looking.

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[Nick Moore]

I think I have to bite. To me the bird sounds like a lot of things but it never really sounds quite right for anything. So I think it is some kind of mimic. Heavily relying on location I think it is a Yellow-breasted Chat. They have fooled me more times than I’d like to admit and can make all sorts of strange noises. Usually they start their more normal song but Ted may well be keeping the full recording from us. I was about to guess Gray Catbird but chat seem more adept at making odd vocalizations.

I once happily ticked a Cassin’s finch before realizing it was a Steller’s Jay, so I eagerly await the answer. Keep these coming Ted very fun.

Nick Moore
Boulder

[Susan Rosine]

I'll take another guess:
Gray Catbird?

Susan Rosine
Brighton

[Burke Angstman]

A Brown-headed Cowbird makes a call that can sound like this.

Burke Angstman

Lakewood

On Thursday, June 18, 2020 at 7:22:39 PM UTC-6, Ted Floyd wrote:

[Don Marsh]

European Starling?

Don Marsh

Ouray County 

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[Burke Angstman]

Possibly a Western Meadowlark.  I got fooled once thinking it was a Say's Phoebe.

On 2nd thought, probably not a Cowbird as their call is too thin.

Burke Angstman

Lakewood

On Thursday, June 18, 2020 at 7:22:39 PM UTC-6, Ted Floyd wrote: