About Bird Behavior: A Singing Bird That Attracts Other Birds
Hello, fellow iNaturalists,
I recently witnessed an intriguing scene in my local environment and would love to hear your thoughts on it. While walking near a rather squalid-looking guava tree, I came across a bird repeating the same musical note persistently. The song lasted long enough for me to notice, retrieve my camera, set it up, take a few photos and even some shaky videos—and yet the bird continued singing even after I had finished observing.
Initially, I identified the bird as Turdus leucomelas, but after uploading my sighting to iNaturalist, I realized it was actually Turdus nudigenis. That revelation was interesting, but the behavior itself was more puzzling.
As the bird sang, several other species began to congregate in the same small guava tree. These included:
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1 Tyrannus melancholicus (Tropical Kingbird)
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4 Saltator olivascens (Grayish Saltator)
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3 Thraupis episcopus (Blue-gray Tanager)
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1 Mimus gilvus (Tropical Mockingbird)
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2 Ramphocelus dimidiatus (Crimson-backed Tanager)
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2 hummingbirds of the Amazilia type
They perched, moved about, and seemed to observe the singing bird closely. The scene felt almost ritualistic—like the singer was broadcasting something others understood.
Out of curiosity, I uploaded the report to eBird as well, though I’m not a regular user of the platform. The report looked unusual for my area, which left me wondering: Could that rarity itself be a clue? Was the persistent singing a warning call—perhaps triggered by a snake, predator bird, or another unseen threat? Or could it be a territorial broadcast drawing attention from nearby birds?
Has anyone else come across such a phenomenon? I’d love to hear theories, similar experiences, or even hypotheses on what drives this kind of gathering behavior around a solitary singer.