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Music of a City Lake
Learning the common bird calls that add to the majestic sounds of your average local body of water.
© Emilie Chen
A city lake is one of the most prized places in a fast, growing environment. It’s also often difficult to distinguish all of the bird calls from each other. With a splash of a beak, a glide of a wing, and an eye of a predator — listen closely, and then again to sharpen your bird ear.
This episode is brought to you by Teton Science Schools, specializing in outdoor learning experiences and education in Grand Teton National Park.
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BirdNote®
Music of a City Lake
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
A city lake may seem quiet and still, at first. But with a little time, you might start to hear its music…
[Female Wood Duck calls]
Female Wood Ducks call out to each other, keeping an eye out for predators.
Red-winged Blackbirds sing from the cattails.
[Red-winged Blackbird song]
The males perch high on the stems and show off their red shoulder patches, while the females search for food deep in the undergrowth.
[Red-winged Blackbird song]
A Belted Kingfisher flies the length of the shoreline, rattling and diving at small fish.
[Belted Kingfisher rattle call]
Several pairs of Mallards paddle around the shallows, quacking companionably as they dunk their heads in the water looking for food.
[Mallard flock calls]
From a woody thicket along the bank, male Song Sparrows belt out their chorus all day long.
[Song Sparrow song]
But when a Red-tailed Hawk passes overhead...
[Red-tailed Hawk call]
...everyone falls silent.
[Red-tailed Hawk call]
Stick around long enough and the music will begin again.
[Red-winged Blackbird song]
For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
This episode is brought to you by Teton Science Schools, specializing in outdoor learning experiences and education in Grand Teton National Park. More at Tetonscience.org.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Wood Duck ML 176235 recorded by Andrew Aldrich, Red-winged Blackbird ML 314523871 recorded by Joshua Brown, Belted Kingfisher ML 242584801 recorded by Darrell Peterson, Mallard ML 282279391 recorded by James Remsen, Eastern Kingbird ML 174047581 recorded by Dave Slager, Song Sparrow ML 256393781 recorded by Dave Slager, and Red-tailed Hawk ML 229578 recorded by David McCartt.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2023 BirdNote June 2023/2026
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# citylake-01-2023-07-07 citylake-01
Conor Gearin
Writer
Ariana Remmel
NarratorSights & Sounds
