An addendum to the challenges of birding by ear: often, a bird does only a part of its song---and that part may happen to sound a lot like the song of another species. Linda
On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 6:30 PM, Jim Ryan <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
