This time, I would get up early. I had resolved myself to get up at 4:30 in the morning so I could go birding and still make it on time to my friend's brother's aunt's sister's birthday party (not really).
Of course, I was hoping to get up at this ludicrous hour so I could study mimicry in California Thrashers at Whiting Ranch, out of curiosity, noble scientific state of mind, and the fact that it would be a cool post on my blog.
Around 2:00 a mockingbird said "Forget about thrashers! Mockingbirds are better," and started partaking in a one-bird rock concert. It finally shut up. Albeit a couple hours later.
At first, this noisy-neighbor-like behavior of mockingbirds was a great annoyance, but then I got to thinking, "Hey, at least I don't live in an area with Common Mynahs!" because Common Mynahs apparently have a screech-like call that turns you temporarily into a zombie, or something like that anyway.
Mynahs (as a genus) reside only in a few tiny patches in the ABA area anyway, the kind of tiny patch that takes an hour and a magnifying glass to be found on a map. And then, not very long ago, a car rolled over the last countable Mynah in the ABA area, freeing everyone in the area from the Mynah Zombie Curse.
So there you have it. I haven't found out anything new about thrasher mimicry but here's a cool (I hope) blog post and a few annoying sounds to go with it.
Disclaimer: I do not intend to hurt or permanently emotionally scar any birds with this post. If you are a very sensitive bird, do not read this post. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, AVES.
Videos may not show up on an iPad.
Category One: Annoying
European Starling
Why it's annoying: constant squeaky scratchy squealing
An accurate description of a starling "song" is a tiny cat being repeatedly trodden by an elephant. Multiply that by 50 and you have an idea of what a murmuration of starlings sounds like (HA! A murmuration of starlings? Good one).
Despite their sound being inherently annoying, the mechanics behind a starling flock are actually pretty fantastic.
Listen to a recording of starlings that will make your ears bleed here.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/sounds
Eastern Koel
Why it's annoying: Incessant whistling during the early hours of the morning
An Eastern Koel, or a Common Koel as you Oldsquaws call it (#jokesonlybirdsget), is a cuckoo that appears frequently throughout Eurasian habitats. Think Bronzed Cowbird, except with a more-cuckoo like shape.
To simulate the effects of the calls of the Eastern Koel, set the below video's audio track as an alarm at 2:00. Also make sure that it is played at full volume and cannot be turned off.
Little Wattle Bird
Why it's annoying: Incessant calling during the early hours of the morning. Loud, obnoxious, raspy call. Having the name Little Wattle Bird, which is a particularly annoying name (I know this is a sound competition, and it's a human's fault, but I had to mention it).
The Little Wattle Bird is a sleek brown honeyeater that will make you wish it had never been born.
Unlike Koels, the Little Wattle Bird has no sense of humor as honeyeaters do, so yelling "Go away and wattle with the penguins with Antarctica," will have no effect on it (partly because that's a horrible pun).
Category Two: Loudest
Three-wattled Bellbird
Apparently you can hear a Three-wattled Bellbird from three miles away, landing it in the official Wow, How Onearthdoesthatbird MakE A Super Unusual, Raucous, Exponential, Stupendous, Terribly Happy, Interesting, Splendid, Sock-your-rocks off, Terribly Unique, Fabled, Feared, Astouding, Not Yucky, Wowzers, Amplified, Yodel-like sound Bird Sound Club, or WHO MEASURES THIS STUFF ANYWAY ???????for short.
The awesome sound of the Three-wattled Bellbird is used as a deadly weapon against territorial intruders. Have you ever been sleeping, and it's all nice, and then someone yells in your ear? Amplify that by 30X.
OUCH.
Category Three: Most Versatile Voice
Superb Lyrebird
If you thought that annoying 2 AM-singing mockingbird was an impressive mimic (and I'll admit, I've been fooled by that guy multiple times. Once I got hyped up to the point of self-discovered-Code-7 because I thought there was a Pygmy-owl in my suburban yard), meet the Superb Lyrebird.
If this bird was named Superb Lyrebird centuries ago when lyres were the most versatile instruments around, it should be renamed Holyfreakingawesome GarageBand© Bird because that's a perfect summation of the extent of its abilities.
It's imitated construction building sounds, chainsaws, and cameras. Next thing you know, it'll be the next big pop star in Oceanic music.
Category Four: Most Beautiful
Thrushes
Wood thrushes, as you avid blog readers no doubt know, are a favorite bird of mine because of their haunting, beautiful songs.
Note: After some extensive research on wood thrush voice box use, it has been found, to my not-so-profound disappointment, that there is a pathetic amount of papers regarding how the sound of wood thrushes are produced. The ones I have amassed seem to have a vast amount of contradictions to other articles. I seek to finally relay this travesty in a future post. There will be a lot of text, and maybe even a bibliography. You have been warned.
Wood Thrush
First, I would like to debunk a myth I put in my post back in the ancient month of September 2014.
EVERY SINGLE BIRD has a syrinx. EVERY BIRD'S syrinx has a double voice box. I received this false knowledge from goodness-knows-where.
The post moves on.
Hermit Thrush
Coming This Month:
Bird Palettes
The Science of Thrush Songs
plus a bunch of other posts
Hope you enjoyed this post.
Comments are appreciated!!
-Chiccadee
If you would like a "Birds and Sound: Part Two" and other "Birds and ________ "posts PLEASE comment because I would like to know if you like this kind of post!
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