Re: [cayugabirds-l] Mockingbirds on our house

2014-06-08 Thread Mike Pitzrick
Hi Richard,

The range map for Northern Mockingbird in *Birds of North America*
indicates that they breed as far north as southern Ontario, and are
permanent residents as far north as Watertown, NY.  Regarding migratory
habits, BNA says it is

Not well understood. Reported to be partly migratory in northern portion of
 range, but at least some individuals remain in winter at northern limits of
 breeding range. Perceptions of status could be affected by reduced
 visibility of mockingbirds during winter.


About the number of songs types one bird can make,

The vocal repertoires of individual males have been estimated to be as low
 as 45 and as high as 203 song types ... Song types appear to be added
 continuously to the vocal repertoire, suggesting that an individual bird
 may not have an upper limit to its repertoire.


The BNA account does not appear to address the issue of the fidelity of
mimicry, so I will venture into the realm of my own impressions of how
mockingbird mimicry can be distinguished from the songs of birds they
imitate.  I would welcome commentary from others who have similar or
different impressions.

BNA mention that

Mockingbirds typically repeat one song type several times before switching
 to another. Songs are presented in “bouts,” with each bout consisting of
 repetitions of only one song type. Song types of short duration are
 repeated more often within a bout than are longer song types


This suggests one of the cues that might clue me into the fact that I'm
hearing an imitation of a cardinal song rather than a real cardinal song.
The mockingbird is likely to make several identical repetitions of the same
cardinal song in a pretty short time frame.

Beyond that, it appears to me that while many aspects of the cardinal song
are faithfully reproduced to my ear, there are definitely alterations.  To
me, a real cardinal song has more dynamic range, more change in pitch, more
variety between repetitions of the same song, more variability in song
length, etc.

To anthropomorphize, when I hear a real cardinal, I sometimes form a mental
image of an opera singer.  I hear years of voice lessons.  Each note is
milked for every possible ounce of melodrama and emotion.  I can almost see
the exaggerated facial expressions.

The mockingbird reminds me more of an advanced beginner pianist.  The
repertoire is getting to be quite large and increasing every week, but each
of the pieces is of similar length because it gets boiled down to a single
page in the piano lesson book.  The performance is lacking in dynamic
range, change of tempo, and creativity.  Each repetition is rendered
mechanically and identically.  My impression is that of a rote performance.

Does this ring true for other observers?

Richard, I'm guessing you would really enjoy reading The Singing Life of
Birds
http://www.amazon.com/The-Singing-Life-Birds-Listening/dp/0618840761/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8qid=1402234001sr=8-1keywords=kroodsma
by Donald Kroodsma.  The book discusses Northern Mockingbird among other
species, comes with a CD, and is full of sonograms.

-Mike


On Sat, Jun 7, 2014 at 8:25 AM, Richard Tkachuck rictkal...@gmail.com
wrote:

 A mockingbird has selected our house as a place to display his wide
 variety of sounds from early morning until the sun sets. This has raised
 some questions.
 1, How large a collection of different sounds can one bird make?
 2. I recognize some of the sounds. Would a cardinal be confused in hearing
 his call?
 3. Are the sonograms of a mockingbird and a cardinal about the same, or
 can you tell them apart.
 4. Mockingbirds migrate. Can you tell where they spent the winter by the
 songs they sing?
 5. Do mockingbirds make calls of predators like owls or hawks?

 Thanks,
 Richard Tkachuck
 --


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RE: [cayugabirds-l] Mockingbirds on our house

2014-06-08 Thread Wesley M. Hochachka
Hi all,

   The idea of identifying winter ranges from songs that are mimicked is neat, 
and while it may not work for Northern Mockingbirds, it possibly could be used 
for other species.  I know of only a single person who ever tried doing this 
(there could easily be more…I don’t know the song literature at all), and he 
was trying to identify where the few Marsh Warblers that nest in England spend 
the winter in Africa.  As best I know, that part of the student’s research 
never came to fruition.
   As an aside, if you’ve got a few minutes, you can listen to Marsh Warbler 
recordings either at the Macaulay Library (a bird mimicking at least Great Tit, 
Barn Swallow, Skylark, House Sparrow, and Chiffchaff: 
http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/71611), or a marathon song session at 
xeno-canto: http://www.xeno-canto.org/135647 .  I find it interesting that 
these two mimics (mockingbirds and Marsh Warblers), although not at all closely 
related, some roughly the same sort of song quality: jarring, abrupt notes with 
very few whistles.

   Oh, and while mockingbirds can have repertoires of a couple hundred song 
types, these are not necessarily all mimicked songs of other species, but just 
recognizable and repeated phrases.  “Sampled” sounds from other species just 
happen to be part of the mix of phrases that the birds can use.

Wesley



From: bounce-116224129-3494...@list.cornell.edu 
[mailto:bounce-116224129-3494...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Mike Pitzrick
Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2014 9:40 AM
To: Richard Tkachuck
Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Mockingbirds on our house

Hi Richard,
The range map for Northern Mockingbird in Birds of North America indicates that 
they breed as far north as southern Ontario, and are permanent residents as far 
north as Watertown, NY.  Regarding migratory habits, BNA says it is
Not well understood. Reported to be partly migratory in northern portion of 
range, but at least some individuals remain in winter at northern limits of 
breeding range. Perceptions of status could be affected by reduced visibility 
of mockingbirds during winter.

About the number of songs types one bird can make,
The vocal repertoires of individual males have been estimated to be as low as 
45 and as high as 203 song types ... Song types appear to be added continuously 
to the vocal repertoire, suggesting that an individual bird may not have an 
upper limit to its repertoire.

The BNA account does not appear to address the issue of the fidelity of 
mimicry, so I will venture into the realm of my own impressions of how 
mockingbird mimicry can be distinguished from the songs of birds they imitate.  
I would welcome commentary from others who have similar or different 
impressions.

BNA mention that
Mockingbirds typically repeat one song type several times before switching to 
another. Songs are presented in “bouts,” with each bout consisting of 
repetitions of only one song type. Song types of short duration are repeated 
more often within a bout than are longer song types

This suggests one of the cues that might clue me into the fact that I'm hearing 
an imitation of a cardinal song rather than a real cardinal song.  The 
mockingbird is likely to make several identical repetitions of the same 
cardinal song in a pretty short time frame.

Beyond that, it appears to me that while many aspects of the cardinal song are 
faithfully reproduced to my ear, there are definitely alterations.  To me, a 
real cardinal song has more dynamic range, more change in pitch, more variety 
between repetitions of the same song, more variability in song length, etc.

To anthropomorphize, when I hear a real cardinal, I sometimes form a mental 
image of an opera singer.  I hear years of voice lessons.  Each note is milked 
for every possible ounce of melodrama and emotion.  I can almost see the 
exaggerated facial expressions.

The mockingbird reminds me more of an advanced beginner pianist.  The 
repertoire is getting to be quite large and increasing every week, but each of 
the pieces is of similar length because it gets boiled down to a single page in 
the piano lesson book.  The performance is lacking in dynamic range, change of 
tempo, and creativity.  Each repetition is rendered mechanically and 
identically.  My impression is that of a rote performance.
Does this ring true for other observers?
Richard, I'm guessing you would really enjoy reading The Singing Life of 
Birdshttp://www.amazon.com/The-Singing-Life-Birds-Listening/dp/0618840761/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8qid=1402234001sr=8-1keywords=kroodsma
 by Donald Kroodsma.  The book discusses Northern Mockingbird among other 
species, comes with a CD, and is full of sonograms.

-Mike

On Sat, Jun 7, 2014 at 8:25 AM, Richard Tkachuck 
rictkal...@gmail.commailto:rictkal...@gmail.com wrote:
A mockingbird has selected our house as a place to display his wide variety of 
sounds from early morning until the sun sets. This has raised some questions.
1, How large

Re: [cayugabirds-l] mockingbirds in winter

2012-12-26 Thread Michael Engle
Mockingbird in a yew hedge at 971 E State/MLK Jr St at 8:15 this a.m.

Michael Engle
via iPod

On Dec 25, 2012, at 12:17 PM, Donna Scott 
d...@cornell.edumailto:d...@cornell.edu wrote:

There are Mockingbirds on both Sweazey and Algerine Roads, near here, just 
above the lake shore. This is definitely a slightly warmer micro-climate here 
above the lake. Often when it is raining here, it is snowing a mile up the hill 
on Rt. 34B.
Donna Scott
- Original Message -
From: mailto:nutter.d...@me.com nutter.d...@me.commailto:nutter.d...@me.com
To: mailto:cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu 
cayugabirds-L@cornell.edumailto:cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2012 10:16 AM
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] mockingbirds in winter

On Sunday there were 2 Northern Mockingbirds together in Staghorn Sumac and 
another small fruiting weed-tree I don't know by name along the edge of Cayuga 
Inlet in Cass Park. What surprised me was that there were 2 of them close 
together, and they seemed amicable during the moments I saw them. I've often 
found Northern Mockingbirds solo in fall  winter inhabiting a thicket full of 
vines, bushes, and trees with fruit. I've seen them try to oust flocks of 
European Starlings eating their food supply, and I'm sure other birds provoke 
territorial defense as well, although mostly these quiet gray birds are pretty 
inconspicuous in winter. I've seen this mostly in Ithaca, where I spend most of 
my time, but also on the higher part of East Shore drive. I wonder if wintering 
Northern Mockingbirds around here are associated with low elevation and warmer 
microclimates, and I wonder if there are places with Northern Mockingbirds in 
summer where they are not found in winter.

--Dave Nutter

On Dec 25, 2012, at 01:10 AM, Tobias Dean 
tdea...@twcny.rr.commailto:tdea...@twcny.rr.com wrote:

We had a mockingbird in our orchard on South Hill today. It was having a 
territorial dispute with a crow.
   I dont recall seeing them in wintertime.

  Toby Dean
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RE: [cayugabirds-l] Mockingbirds

2012-12-25 Thread Mary E. Winston
Hi, I always have a pair of Mockingbirds on my Christmas Bird Count.  They live 
in a big scruffy field across from the condos on Bomax Road.  I was very 
surprized to see them for the first time four years ago!

Mary Winston


From: bounce-72545155-12723...@list.cornell.edu 
[bounce-72545155-12723...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of John and Fritzie 
Blizzard [job121...@verizon.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2012 10:54 AM
To: CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Mockingbirds

Mine are here year round. One in particular is always protective of the 
cedar/juniper berries  is the guardian of the hill trying to drive away even 
large flocks of starlings. Last winter, for the 1st time, it was eating suet!! 
Other mockers live/stay in the thick stand of cedars a block away.

We often see a mocker down along 90 at Levannah  a couple other places along 
90.

Snow geese, noisily gabbing to each other, went to the lake by the thousands 
last evening just before dark.

Wishing all our birding friends a very merry Christmas.

Fritzie Blizzard,

Union Springs
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] mockingbirds in winter

2012-12-25 Thread Donna Scott
There are Mockingbirds on both Sweazey and Algerine Roads, near here, just 
above the lake shore. This is definitely a slightly warmer micro-climate here 
above the lake. Often when it is raining here, it is snowing a mile up the hill 
on Rt. 34B.
Donna Scott
  - Original Message - 
  From: nutter.d...@me.com 
  To: cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2012 10:16 AM
  Subject: [cayugabirds-l] mockingbirds in winter


  On Sunday there were 2 Northern Mockingbirds together in Staghorn Sumac and 
another small fruiting weed-tree I don't know by name along the edge of Cayuga 
Inlet in Cass Park. What surprised me was that there were 2 of them close 
together, and they seemed amicable during the moments I saw them. I've often 
found Northern Mockingbirds solo in fall  winter inhabiting a thicket full of 
vines, bushes, and trees with fruit. I've seen them try to oust flocks of 
European Starlings eating their food supply, and I'm sure other birds provoke 
territorial defense as well, although mostly these quiet gray birds are pretty 
inconspicuous in winter. I've seen this mostly in Ithaca, where I spend most of 
my time, but also on the higher part of East Shore drive. I wonder if wintering 
Northern Mockingbirds around here are associated with low elevation and warmer 
microclimates, and I wonder if there are places with Northern Mockingbirds in 
summer where they are not found in winter.
--Dave Nutter
  On Dec 25, 2012, at 01:10 AM, Tobias Dean tdea...@twcny.rr.com wrote:


We had a mockingbird in our orchard on South Hill today. It was having a 
territorial dispute with a crow.

   I dont recall seeing them in wintertime.


  Toby Dean
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