I think there are several reasons a visual is more "real" to people than hearing:
- Humans are very visually dominant creatures. They are so reliant on their eyes, they never bother to develop the auditory acuity necessary to distinguish different tones from one another, so they don't trust what they hear to be precisely identified they way they might if they observe it. Birding by eye takes lots of skill and practice. So does birding by ear. Being good at one does NOT guarantee any improvement in the other! So many never invest the time and effort required to add this dimension to their skillset. - For non-auditory dominant people, learning to distinguish subtleties of calls is harder than the visual subtleties of gulls! - Cultural reinforcement; after all, "seeing is believing" & "talk is cheap" - more people fix their bad eyes than their bad ears and hearing loss is VERY common - moreso than is generally recognized. - Birds have accents - regional and individual variation in song makes it more complex, and more fun once you're good enough - Beware of imitations - mimics can occasionally fool even a practiced ear, at least for a moment. That said, ID by sound is quite reliable (to a practiced ear) and often the best way to find birds. For many Breeding Surveys it is entirely relied upon to ID species present (also done with Frog surveys). And at this time of year, it can be the only way to have "contact" with a bird, as the foliage is so dense it's often impossible to see what you hear! On Sun, Jun 3, 2012 at 9:12 AM, Stefanie and Kurt <[email protected] > wrote: > Because a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. > Kurt > > > On 6/3/12 7:49 AM, "Al Schirmacher" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On a birding field trip, why is the word "seen" given so much more value > than > > "heard"? > > > > Al Schirmacher > > Princeton, MN > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > ---- > > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > -- 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
