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From Simple to Complex Bird Sounds
From hisses and grunts to elaborate songs.
© Phil Hauck
Explore how bird songs increase in complexity from the guttural hiss of a Turkey Vulture, to the short songs of Henslow’s Sparrows, and to the elaborate song repertoire of the Brown Thrasher.
This show was produced by World According to Sound. BirdNote and World According to Sound are teaming up for an immersive, 70-minute, virtual event about the sounds of birds. Learn more and register here.
BirdNote®
From Simple to Complex Bird Sounds
Written by The World According to Sound
[Turkey Vulture call]
This is Birdnote.
[Turkey Vulture call]
From the simplest bird sounds to the most complex. Most birds make sounds with their syrinx. But a turkey vulture doesn’t actually have one.
[Turkey Vulture call]
This cormorant has only one set of muscles to control its syrinx.
[Brandt’s Cormorant call]
Now we’re going to increase in complexity, from grunts, to simple calls, all the way up to a bird that has over a thousand distinct songs in its repertoire.
[Herring Gull call]
Henslow’s Sparrow.
[Henslow’s Sparrow song]
Ovenbird.
[Ovenbird song]
Willow Flycatcher.
[Willow Flycatcher song song]
Field Sparrow.
[Field Sparrow song]
Carolina Wren.
[Carolina Wren song]
Western Meadowlark.
[Western Meadowlark song]
Wood Thrush.
[Wood Thrush song]
And finally, the Brown Thrasher.
[Brown Thrasher song]
I'm Chris Hoff from The World According to Sound. We're teaming up with BirdNote to make an immersive, 70-minute sound event all about birds. To find out how to attend, go to BirdNote.org.
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Produced by Sam Harnett and Chris Hoff of The World According to Sound
Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Turkey Vulture ML 67183841 recorded by A. Spencer, Herring Gull ML 165927 recorded by S. MacLean, Henslow’s Sparrow ML 219762 recorded by B. McGuire, Ovenbird ML 84850 recorded by W. Hershberger, Willow Flycatcher ML 84841 recorded by W. Hershberger, Carolina Wren ML 318241091 recorded by W. Hershberger, Western Meadowlark ML 516839 recorded by W. Hershberger, Wood Thrush ML 517176 recorded by M.D. Medler, and Brown Thrasher ML 98812 recorded by G.A. Keller.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote January 2022 Narrator: Chris Hoff
ID# wats-01-2022-01-07 wats-01
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