Songs and calls of some New York State birds

Thrushes

The American Robin 164kB in my back yard.
Turdus migratorius
same Robin scolding 61kB.
Long Island, May 1996

Wood Thrush 225kB Hylocichla mustelina Long Island, June 1996. "... the golden, leisurely chiming of the wood thrushes, chanting their vespers" Roosevelt Artnote: The Wood Thrush song has been used with great effectiveness in Peter Shikele's ``American Dreams'' Quartet. Attention Wood Thrush fans! Check out the article by Robert Winkler in the New York Times for July 30, 1997, page B12. ``Among his winged brethren, the song of the wood thrush has no equal.'' And much more. Wood Thrush 253kB. This one is a champion. Notice the double-stopping in almost every register. "... the sudden drop to a deep contralto (the most glorious bit of vocalism to be heard in our woods), and the tinkle or spray of bell-like tones at the other extreme of the gamut." Torrey, p.113. A longer record 801kB of the same singer. Nine phrases, all different, in 37 seconds. Paul Simons Preserve, Long Island, July 1998.

Hermit Thrush 350kB Catharus guttatus Hermit Thrush 303kB Hermit Thrush 293kB chipping 27kB Two Hermits and an Ovenbird MP3 file, 440kB Bristol Maine, June 1998. " ... the leisurely, wide-spaced measures of a hermit thrush. When he sings there is no great need of a chorus; the forest has found a tongue; ..." Torrey 1901, p.148. "The song of the Hermit Thrush is the grand climax of all bird music; it is unquestionably so far removed from all the rest of the wild-wood singers' accomplishments that vaunted comparisons are invidious and wholly out of place." Etc., etc. Mathews, p.235. Hermit Thrush 197kB Hermit Thrush 168kB Chenango Valley State Park, May 1999

Swainson's Thrush 57kB (Olive-backed Thrush)
Catharus ustulatus
Long Island, May 1996.

Swainson's Thrush 49kB
Crane Mountain, July 2000.

"The song of Swainson's Thrush is one of the most charming examples of a harmony in suspension which it is possible to find in all the realm of music. The bird deliberately chooses a series of even intervals and climbs up the scale with a thought entirely single to harmonious results." Mathews, p.231.

Swainson's Thrush 45kB
Swainson's Thrush 54kB
Swainson's Thrush 48kB

Crane Mt., July 2000.

Veery 49kB Catharus fuscescens Veery juvenile (begging?) 121kB Hamden, Connecticut, May 2000. The Quicktime Veery of Letchworth State Park 55kB Leicester, May 2001. "The surpassing glory of the veery's song, as all lovers of American bird music may be presumed by this time to know, lies in its harmonic, double-stopping effect, -- an effect, or quality, as beautiful as it is peculiar. One day, while I stood listening to it under the best of conditions, admiring the wonderful arpeggio (I know no less technical word for it), my pencil suddenly grew poetic. 'The veery's fingers are quick on the harpstrings,' it wrote." Torrey, p. 116.

Bluebird 42kB Sialia sialis Bluebird 32kB Bluebird 56kB Woodbridge, Connecticut, March 2002. "A rich and sweet, but short warble." Chapman.

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