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BIRD CALLS

BIRD CALLS

Tips on how to identify and learn bird calls

(Presented as a talk during the Club's evening meeting on 7 March 2009)

Bird calls are very complicated and sometimes difficult to imitate or describe on paper. Birds can produce different sounds simultaneously (the two bronchial sides going into the voice box or syrinx can each produce a (different!) sound at the same time).




Tips on how to identify and learn bird calls

(Presented as a talk during the Club's evening meeting on 7 March 2009)

Bird calls are very complicated and sometimes difficult to imitate or describe on paper.  Birds can produce different sounds simultaneously (the two bronchial sides going into the voice box or syrinx can each produce a (different!) sound at the same time).

  1. Start with birds in your garden or a familiar patch or target habitat
  2. Identify 5 to 10 birds in this area and learn their calls
  3. Jot down calls that confuse you and compare the confusing calls
  4. List 5 to 10 birds you hope to see in your garden / familiar patch / target habitat and learn their calls
  5. Watch what the bird does when it calls – some birds imitate other birds, e.g., Myna, Sabota Lark and White-throated Robin-chat
  6. Note habitat and distribution (use different books, e.g., Roberts, Sasol and Newman)
  7. Try to picture the bird in black-and-white (or grey) – note the GISS
  8. Some birds don’t call in Africa, e.g., European Cuckoo and Corn Crake
  9. Most raptors are excluded although the alarm calls of other birds such as the Grey Go-away Bird can be used to locate a raptor in the air
  10. Listen to different recordings of birdcalls, e.g., Roberts, Gillard and Gibbon.  Birds have different ‘dialects’ in different areas
  11. Create an association between the call and another sound or word phrase that will make it easier for you to remember the call, e.g., the Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike – “coffee-tea-or-me” and the Long-billed Crombec – "los-my stertjie";
  12. Also keep in mind that one bird may have more than one commonly used call, e.g., Southern Boubou.

Etiquette regarding bird calls and sound:

Calls have not been omitted from the following list because they’re not important – feel free to add birds or create your own ‘wishlist’!  Remember: birds have wings and can occur in different habitats.

 Gardens

Calls that might be easier to remember:

Calls that might be more difficult to remember:

Bushveld and Acacia woodland

Calls that might be easier to remember:

Calls that might be more difficult to remember:

Rocky outcrops and hills

Night or dusk/dawn

Water

Calls that might be easier to remember:

Calls that might be more difficult to remember:

Grassland

Calls that might be easier to remember:

Calls that might be more difficult to remember:

Broad-leaved or mixed woodland

Acknowledgements

  1. Various people who taught us bird calls over the years, e.g., Stephan Terblanche, Etienne Marais, André Marx, Rob Geddes, Greg Lock, Dave Sole and Leon Kay
  2. Laniarius articles: