Was I hearing the song from a Robin or was it from a Black-headed Grosbeak?
I usually associate the song of the Black-headed Grosbeak as being patterned like a Robin but embellished with various toots, whistles, and slurred notes, delivered at slightly faster tempo. The Grosbeak’s song is sometimes referred to as sounding like a revved up Robin. On the east side of Moraine Park, in RMNP, I heard a song emanating from a spruce-fir-ponderosa habitat, that to me sounded like a typical Black-headed Grosbeak’s song. However wherever I looked in the direction of the song all I could see were Robins. >From a patch of willows that were adjacent to the conifers I heard and saw a >Black-headed Grosbeak singing. Shortly it flew to a Douglas-fir limb and >continued singing for a short time. What was I to think? Do Robins really have that range of song diversity to sound like a Black-headed Grosbeak, could Robins and Blacked Grosbeaks mimic each other’s song, like individuals from other songbird families, or was I just hearing an odd, revved up Robin singing?I’m inclined to believe I was hearing a revved up Robin that coincidently was in the same neighborhood as the Black-headed Grosbeak. That’s why birding is fun—one never knows where the next birding dilemma will occur. If any one would like to hear the recording I obtained, let me know as I’d be delighted to send a copy, but it wouldn’t be until next week, as I have to download the file to the computer, which is in Denver. Bob Righter Denver, CO Sent from my iPad -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/E3D52789-F341-40F4-84ED-0FF3D2682A3A%40earthlink.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
