[Tweeters] How can I "up my game"?

[Steve Loitz via Tweeters]

Heather,

I often, but not always, rely on voice only for IDs. It depends on my
confidence in IDing a given species by voice only. For example (off the top
of my head/birds I've IDd by voice in the past couple weeks), I am very
confident IDing the songs and/or calls of a Hermit Thrush, Western (fka
Pacific-slope) Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Song Sparrow, Black-headed
Grosbeak, Spotted Towhee, Western Wood Pewee, Sora, White-crowned Sparrow,
Olive-sided Flycatcher, Kildeer, Wilson's Snipe, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow
Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Lazuli Bunting, Warbling Vireo, Cassin's Vireo
and many more. OTOH, I have difficulty distinguishing voicings of some
species, e.g., Purple Finch vs. Cassin's Finch, thus I need to confirm
those by sight. And sometimes I hear a song or call that makes me shrug my
shoulders.

IME, it helps to have more than one set of trained ears. Also, there are
different dialects, e.g., Spotted Towhees have a different set of calls E
of the Cascade crest, and that can result in confusion when birding in
unfamiliar territory.

Birding by ear has tracked on a lifelong learning curve for me.

Final thought: The Merlin app is a great learning tool, but it *only
provides suggestions and sometimes is incorrect*. My Merlin app has
erroneously IDd a Yellow-breasted Chat as a Northern Mockingbird or a
Dickcissel, it often mixes a PUFI for a CAFI and vice versa, etc., etc.

Happy birding by voice,

Steve Loitz
Ellensburg WA


On Fri, Jun 28, 2024 at 8:10 AM Heather Gervais via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> Question for the birding by ear folks that post their sightings to eBird:

> do you go by ear in making your counts? I'm really enjoying improving my

> ear skills, but couldn't imagine being able to determine the number of

> individuals by ear alone. Especially as in learning that in many species,

> only the males sing.

>

> Peace,

>   Heather

>

> Heather Gervais

> Certified Personal Trainer

> Fitness Instructor

> Spanish Interpreter

> Good person

>

> “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

> - Mahatma Gandhi

>

> Message sent from my iPhone. Please excuse its brevity and occasional

> typos.

>

>

> On Jun 28, 2024, at 7:48 AM, Michael Fleming via Tweeters <

> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>

> 

> Hello;

>

>    Rob is definitely spot on regarding this.  Birding by ear is a big

> advantage, it just takes a little time and practice to get there.  If you

> have a particular spot you like to bird (mine was Discovery Park) and learn

> the birds and calls of that area you will find that this will translate

> into recognizing these birds in other areas you visit.  This was stressed

> in the Master Birder Program that I participated in, and I relied a lot on

> it when I was leading birding trips for Discovery Park and WOS.

>

> Cheers and Good Birding;

>

> Michael Fleming

> Ballard, Washington

> MichaelFleming0607 AT gmail.com

>

>

>

> On Fri, Jun 28, 2024 at 6:10 AM Rob Faucett via Tweeters <

> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>

>> Hi Jim - short answer is “birding by ear.”

>>

>> There will be many more reply and I’ll get to something longer. But that

>> is really good, and fun!!, place to start.

>>

>> Happy to help further. Call any time!

>>

>> Rob

>>

>> —

>> Rob Faucett

>> +1(206) 619-5569

>> robfaucett at mac.com

>> Seattle, WA  98105

>>

>> > On Jun 28, 2024, at 5:54 AM, Jim Betz via Tweeters <

>> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>> >

>> > Hi all,

>> >

>> >

>> >   I need some help.  I often use eBird to look up "where are people

>> finding birds" by

>> >

>> > checking recent checklists.  This usually helps me to pick a place in

>> Skagit County

>> >

>> > where we live because I can see 'what's happening' quickly.

>> >

>> >   However, what I've noticed is that there are lots of birders who are

>> posting

>> >

>> > checklists with 2x 3x, and even more as many birds as I'm finding when I

>> >

>> > go to the same place at the same time of day.

>> >

>> >

>> >   ===> So my question is 'what are they doing that I'm not'?

>> >

>> >

>> >   Here is what I am doing.  I walk and stop about every 30 feet or less

>> - and listen

>> >

>> > first and then try to spot the more nearby birds I'm hearing. When I

>> get a visual I

>> >

>> > will try to identify that bird.  I -often- hear birds that I can't id

>> from the song/call.

>> >

>> >   I'm fairly new to birding - started about 5 years ago.  When I am on

>> guided tours

>> >

>> > the guide -always- is way ahead of me.  My primary focus is getting

>> pictures and I

>> >

>> > rarely carry anything other than my camera with long lens - but when my

>> wife is

>> >

>> > with me she has her bins and that helps (some).  At least 9 out of 10

>> times I go

>> >

>> > out I'm by myself rather than with a partner or group.

>> >

>> >                                                                - Jim

>> >

>> > _______________________________________________

>> > Tweeters mailing list

>> > Tweeters at u.washington.edu

>> > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>> _______________________________________________

>> Tweeters mailing list

>> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

>> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>>

>

>

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> Tweeters mailing list

> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>

> _______________________________________________

> Tweeters mailing list

> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>



-- 
Steve Loitz
Ellensburg, WA
steveloitz at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20240628/b6cb9c5d/attachment.html>