Odd Field Identification Methods

[adamschaffer]

Yellow-throated Vireo’s song is slower and raspier than Red-eyed Vireo and probably a bit louder. Scarlet Tanagers are also raspier than Summer Tanagers but I usually can’t tell them apart! Beats me how that works. Learning birdsong for me involves a lot of brain tricks that are usually hard to describe. I’ve had Warbling Vireo pegged ever since someone taught me they sing “If it please you, I will seize you, and squeeze you, till you squirt!” Even though there is variation in their phrasing, “squirt!” gets it done for me. REVIs have been the the most common/vocal breeding bird in the places I have done my most birding. I assume that’s why I often filter them out for a while. They seem quite fond of singing all day. I’ve read they communicate danger to their partner by shutting up more than by making a warning sound so I assume that’s why. I can tell you that one day I wondered around the woods starting at 4:30 a.m. writing the time that I heard each bird for the first time. The REVIs were by far the latest of the common birds not getting started until well after 6:30. That’s still definitely morning, but there is a small kernel of truth to your statement. They do seem to be largely absent from the main dawn chorus at any rate.