Hi, all. If you just can't get enough from Andrew Farnsworth ([?]), try this:
http://www2.aba.org/page.aspx?pid=696 Farnsworth provides 8 tips for "Learning to Appreciate Nocturnal Flight Calls," and he provides a bunch of flight calls for us to listen to. I note that the link above requires an ABA login. So, assuming that not all of you have ABA logins, I paste below the full text. Ted Floyd, Colorado, tfl...@aba.org Andrew Farnsworth’s Expert Advice for Learning to Appreciate Flight Calls Lots of people ask how they can best begin to appreciate flight calls. I have a few suggestions. *1. Commit to It.* To really learn flight calls, commit yourself to spending a lot of time awake at night, outside, staring up at the sky. *[image: Magnolia Warbler Spectrogram]<http://www.aba.org/birding/05MagnoliaWarbler.wav> **2. Start with Sounds You Know.* Stick with calls that you hear both day and night, such as the distinctive flight calls of the Dickcissel <http://www.aba.org/birding/01Dickcissel.wav> , Bobolink <http://www.aba.org/birding/02Bobolink.wav>, andUpland Sandpiper<http://www.aba.org/birding/03UplandSandpiper.wav>. The suite of sounds from these species is a great way to get started. *3. Do Some Homework.* Extensively review Bill Evans and Michael O’Brien’s seminal identification guide on CD-ROM: *Flight Calls of Migratory Birds: Eastern North American Landbirds* <http://www.oldbird.org/fcmbirds.htm>. Listening to the calls * and* looking at the sound spectrograms is critical to learning. Tuning your ear to very subtle variation in flight call frequencies, modulations, and durations is tricky, and using visual representations (the spectrograms) gives your aural discrimination a boost by adding the visual information. * Seeing* that a Magnolia Warbler has a modulated flight call (see sound spectrogram, right and *hearing* the same call<http://www.aba.org/birding/05MagnoliaWarbler.wav> is very important for the learning process. *4. Tune in to Common Nocturnal Vocalizers.* After that initial suite of diurnal and nocturnal vocalizers, get to know some widespread and common nocturnal vocalizers, such as the Savannah Sparrow <http://www.aba.org/birding/06SavannahSparrow.wav> and Swainson’s Thrush <http://www.aba.org/birding/07SwainsonsThrush.wav>. Because these species give flight calls day and night, this suite of sounds can be a big confidence booster: “Hey, I know that sound, I heard it during the day!” Starting with common sounds gives you a reference frame. Then you can branch into more esoteric ground. And you’ll need to do some heavy-duty birding at “morning flight” locations. Any time you can spend time in the field seeing birds in migration and hearing them produce flight calls, do it! Arizona’s San Pedro River Valley, Higbee Beach in New Jersey, Matagorda Island in Texas, and Florida’s Green Key funnel are all great places to see and hear. *5. Get Away from Urban Areas—or Not.* Get away from urban areas if you want to experience the sound of nocturnal migration without much human interference. I realize, though, that it is more and more difficult to do this. If you are not a purist, and you are willing to take advantage of what is probably a type of alarm behavior, station yourself in a well lit and sporadically noisy place like, say, Hackensack, New Jersey, in May on a night with warm southerly winds. The passing air traffic from Newark frequently stimulates birds to vocalize, and you might hear a Gray-cheeked Thrush<http://www.aba.org/birding/08GraycheekedThrush.wav>, an American Redstart <http://www.aba.org/birding/09AmericanRedstart.wav>, or a Yellow-billed Cuckoo<http://www.aba.org/birding/10YellowbilledCuckoo.wav>. Also, the surrounding lights of humanity that color the night sky close to urban centers, and punctuate the sky in many places, can actually stimulate migration. One epic case is the Tribute in Light September 11 memorial in Manhattan. One of the most amazing nights of flight calling in recent history in the northeastern U.S. occurred there in 2011. I had the good fortune of running a recording device, which documented tens of thousands of calls from birds flying around the beams of light. *6. Focus on the Fall.* Generally, fall migration is a time of much higher calling activity, presumably because there are simply more birds aloft and many of these birds are young birds that appear to vocalize more frequently. *7. Pick Your Time.* Choose the best time of night for the species you want to hear. Numerous studies have shown a peak in calling activity in the hours just before dawn, but the peaks in calling vary by species. The pre-dawn hours are no doubt the best hours to hear *Catharus* thrushes<http://www.aba.org/birding/11Catharusthrushes.wav>, sometimes by the thousands. However, calling activity can be excellent throughout the evening depending on prevailing local and regional wind and weather conditions. *8. Branch Out.* Good places to listen are surprisingly many and varied. September and October mornings at the dike at Cape May’s Higbee Beach can be a spectacular opportunity to see migration in action (the “morning flight”) and hear flight calls while observing birds. Spring on Florida’s Atlantic coast on southwesterly winds can be exceptional as birds pile up along the coast. This might be one of the best places in May to hear Bicknell’s Thrush<http://www.aba.org/birding/12BicknellsThrush.wav> flight calls in migration. I’ve yet to experience an epic night, but *Birding* Editor Ted Floyd tells me about great calling activity in Colorado just east of the Rockies (I’m itching to go!); Ted reports strong eastbound Chipping Sparrow <http://www.aba.org/birding/13ChippingSparrow.wav> flights as early as late July. September and October off the coast of California on the Channel Islands can have some exceptional Swainson’s Thrush flights. April and May along riparian corridors in southern Arizona can also be productive. **Andrew Farnsworth’s research on and passion for nocturnal flight calls were featured in 2012 in *The Wall Street Journal*. Click here<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443884104577647682063350566.html> to read the article. * * Back to the *Birding* WebExtras > <http://www2.aba.org/page.aspx?pid=689> On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 3:54 PM, Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes < c...@cornell.edu> wrote: > I thought the link below might be of interest to some on this eList. > > Good night listening as the season ramps up! > > Sincerely, > Chris T-H > > Begin forwarded message: > > *From: *Christopher Leighton Wood <chris.w...@cornell.edu> > *Date: *April 9, 2013 5:25:23 PM EDT > *To: *CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> > *Subject: **[cayugabirds-l] Understanding radar and quantifying migration > * > *Reply-To: *Christopher Leighton Wood <chris.w...@cornell.edu> > > At last night's very well attended Cayuga Bird Club meeting at the > Cornell Lab of Ornithology, David Nicosia gave an overview of birds and > weather. There was a question about quantifying how many migrants are > moving in relation to radar. I mentioned some Sid Gauthreaux and Carroll > Belser's work at Clemson to develop a calibration curve for interpreting > radar reflectivity in comparison with Lowery's classic moonwatching work. I > also promised some additional information for those interested. Andrew > Farnsworth has posted a primer on understanding radar and birds that > discusses this and other aspects of radar and birds. > > http://birdcast.info/forecast/understanding-birds-and-radar/ > > Cheers, > Chris > > Christopher Wood > eBird Project Leader > Cornell Lab of Ornithology > http://ebird.org > http://birds.cornell.edu > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail > Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> > !* > -- > > > --**** > Chris Tessaglia-Hymes**** > Listowner, NFC-L**** > Ithaca, New York**** > c...@cornell.edu**** > NFC-L – Archives<http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > **** > NFC-L – Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME>* > *** > NFC-L – Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> > **** > NFC-L – Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > > -- > *NFC-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> > !* > -- > -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
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