On the way from my car to the office this morning (Yes, I work on Saturdays now) I heard an odd bird song and I had to figure out what it was. So I searched as I continued to listen. I was a bit surprised to find a Robin.
Several things were odd about this bird's song: 1) The song bits were short, somewhat like a call and reminded me in it's quality but not cadence of a thrasher or mockingbird song. What I heard was definitely song-like and not one of a Robin's or Mimid's call or alarm notes. 2) It was pausing for several seconds - like 5 - 10 seconds between short song phrases and 3) He was singing just part of a Robin-like song, not the whole thing. In other words, he was doing the beginning and middle but not the end of a Robin song. Very curious. Was it just practicing? Was it drunk on berries? Was it a young bird still learning the typical song? I have heard a lot of Robins in my day and never one anything like this. What this bird was doing was definitely beyond a regional dialect variation. Anyone else have similar experience with this or other species? -- Sincerely, Jim Ryan Saint Paul's Westside ---- One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken. -* Leo Tolstoy* A well governed appetite is the greater part of liberty. - *Lucius Annaeus Seneca* ---- ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
