Relaxing with Song Birds Beats and Mimicry

by WriterArtist

Birds communicate through songs. Over years, people found their communication to be soothing and melodious, thus evolved a species of Birds that are known as SongBirds.

I could see only straight ahead. Among the trees, the sound seemed to come from everywhere. I tried to gauge the direction, into the top trees and I saw a small black head. Did it belong to the Indian Bulbul perching from the treetop or was it the Indian Koel?

Who doesn’t love the chirping of birds? It is definitely music to me. The twitter-tatter and flip-flap of the wings awaken me in the early morning and I like it most among the noise of vehicles, bells of a temple or loud chanting from the mosque. How I wish they would stop putting loudspeaker to the noises emanating from the temples and mosques.

Image Credit – Pixabay, Author : designerpoint
© copyright WriterArtist 2019, all rights reserved

Birds as Con Artist

Mimicry and Imitating

The tropical jungle is full of con artists who are an expert in copying and camouflaging. Birds are known to copy the cries of other species.

Some birds are known to mimic other birds, borrowing tunes and notes from well noted birds and use for their own purposes. Why do birds do that?

These are the amazing species of Con Artists, they are thrashers, catbirds and mockingbirds.

Fledgling and the chicks usually make their entry into the world by imitating their parents sounds. They begin adding to their collection many mimicries and thus expand their repertoire.

Among the many advantages mimicry offers; birds imitate to defend their territory, to gel with their flock and to impress their mate during mating season.

Passerines

Ornithologists call the species of SongBirds Passerines. They are marked with three toes of their feet forward and one toe holding backwards when they perch on the tree ready to perform their masterpiece.

Common Songbirds are House Finches, Sparrow, Warblers and Thrushes. Woodpecker is not a songbird. The sound it makes comes from the pecking of wood.

Facts About SongBirds

  • More than half of the Bird species make songbirds. While around 5000 species of birds can sing some birds like Stork are mostly mute except while courting when they snap their bills and Ducks can hardly make any musical sound other than quacks.
  • In most of the species of song birds, the real singers are the males. They are the ones who can really sing real songs while the females only calls. The females of Bird species do not sing and are not so colourful.
  • In simple words, females choose to mate with males that have more elaborate skillset of songs.
  • However, there are certain species of SongBirds which sing Duets. The most impressive is the intelligent singing of antiphonal duets, the sound is so seamless that often humans would not be able to distinguish the male and female singing alternate notes back and forth, it all seems as if a single bird is singing.
  • Especially impressive among these duos are those birds that sing antiphonal duets, in which the male and female sing alternating phrases back and forth. These duets can sound so seamless that the human ear may mistake them for a single bird.
Songbirds of North America: A visual directory of 100 of the most popular songbirds in North America

A visual directory with over 100 of the most popular North American bird calls. Beautiful illustrations show each bird's distinctive colors and plumage, and detailed information...

$4.74  $3.74

View on Amazon

Backyard Songbirds: An Illustrated Guide to 100 Familiar Species of North America

Only $4.95

View on Amazon

Our Songbirds: A Songbird for Every Week of the Year

Beloved songbirds are drawn by the Banksy of the bird world, with descriptions of their birdsongsIn a beautiful follow-up to Our Garden Birds, street artist Matt Sewell offers m...

$16.42  $7.66

View on Amazon

Songbirds: How to Attract Them and Identify Their Songs

Discusses how, why, and when birds choose to sing, offers advice on recognizing the song of individual birds, and presents specific information on one hundred songbirds commonly...

$16.93  $0.96

View on Amazon

Regal Art & Gift Birdbath/Feeder with Stake, Purple

Beautifully handcrafted art glass bowl which stand proudly with a 3-pronged base offering the choice to be used as a birdbath or birdfeeder.

View on Amazon

Best Choice Products Sparrow Couple Pedestal Bird Bath w/Scroll Accent - Antique Gold

Invite nature to any garden or yard with a charming bird bath. Two small birds sit gracefully atop this piece for an elegant touch. The antique gold finish and fleur-de-Lys scro...

View on Amazon

Allied Precision Industries (650) Heated Bird Bath with Mounting Bracket

Attract a variety of wintering birds to your backyard with a warm, clean Mollema & Son birdbath. A Built-in thermostat prevents bird bath water from freezing, even on the chilli...

View on Amazon

Alpine TEC106 Tiered Classic Pedestal Garden Water Fountain and Birdbath, Dark Verdigris Green Fi...

This majestic tiered water fountain in a lively green finish makes a great focal point either indoors or out. The Three-Tier Bird Bath Water Fountain is just the right size to f...

View on Amazon

Message from the Environmentalist

By killing their habitats, destroying jungles and trees; we have created a havoc in their small world. Many species are dying and becoming extinct day by day as I write this article.

Just listen to their chirping and you would not need any sleeping pill to fall asleep or relax from the stress. I make it a point to watch these fascinating birds from my window in a day full of sunshine and hope.

Even though I am late in becoming conscious about the harm we are doing to the environment and the avian creatures, I want to do my bit to these amazing, intelligent aerial species that rules the sky.

This includes leaving a smaller carbon footprint, commuting from a bus or a bicycle and many others. In many countries, keeping forest reserve and water reservoirs is a real challenge. Every country has to do their bit for the environment. With depleting rainforests, we have sadly already a lot of species of the song birds. These birds made their home on the planet earth but now can only be found in books and paintings.

A large grove of trees serves as a home to the birds, it can serve a large community of birds that are needed to spread the seeds of the trees. Birds, insects and bees help to multiply trees and pollen grains. The complex relationships into our eco-system is so unique and yet so fragile. Everyone including humans need to survive on earth with the forests and their inhabitants.

Different Song Birds

In North America, you must have heard of the American Robin and common blue Jay. If not, it is never too late to learn about these bright coloured feathered creatures, their habitats and habits.

Canary

 

The original species, the great-great grandparent of canaries are extinct, they became extinct in the beginning of 19th century. Chatham Islands contain the fossil remains of this species.

Each country has its store and species of canary. Songbirds of these species are the German Roller from Germany, the Russian Singer from Russia, the Spanish Timbrado from Spain and the American Singer from US. There is a species of Persian Singer which is popular in Iran and the Middle East too.

Asian Koel and Bulbul

 

These birds are seen in Urban neighbourhood which has groves of tree clusters. Songbirds making Western Ghats in South India may witness a genetic change as deeper valleys isolate species for a longer time. The most common songbirds of India that are popular for their melodies are sparrow,bulbul, mynah and koel.

Nightingale

 

Nightingale is one of the endangered songbird species.  It is one of the bird species that has a repertoire of 1160  syllables compared to that of common bird having 108 syllables.

Learning and Identifying Bird Calls

 

Young birds have special calls for their parents when they are hungry. A bird of Song sparrow species can sing 200 different songs whereas another species of sparrow can only sing one song over and over again.

With practice, one can follow the bird habitats and learn the various different sound that birds can make, those that are of high pitch and others which are mimicry.

Updated: 02/09/2019, WriterArtist
 
Thank you! Would you like to post a comment now?
7

Is your garden visited by Songbirds?

Only logged-in users are allowed to comment. Login
Mira on 03/10/2019

I suffer here in Bucharest because I don't hear much sound of songbirds. We have lots of sparrows, seagulls, and pigeons, and little else. Nice article! I see now why the nightingale is so prized in folk culture. I also didn't know about those fine-tuned duets and the fact that the males are not only more showy but also sing better.

DerdriuMarriner on 02/20/2019

WriterArtist, Thank you for the practicalities and products. I appreciate the mourning dove family that calls every day at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Why are there loudspeakers in mosques and temples?
Have you seen fairy blue-birds?
Blue jays and eastern bluebirds rank among my favorites, with the latter particularly relishing the mimosa outside the north kitchen window.

blackspanielgallery on 02/14/2019

In neighboring Mississippi there are Least Terns that nest in the sand on the Gulf of Mexico, and are protected.

blackspanielgallery on 02/14/2019

Gere we have cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds, sparrows, robins, egrets, pelicans, and blue herons. others also come here.

WriterArtist on 02/13/2019

@Dustytoes - I envy that you can watch so many birds in your backyard itself in Florida. Alas, in a city filled with so much commotion and population, I can only hope for some chance of seeing any rare birds.

WriterArtist on 02/13/2019

@ MBC - I can see that you love birds and Nature as well. I hope there were more Environmentalists and wish they were powerful enough to stop extinction of Birds, Animals and precious remains of Rainforests.

WriterArtist on 02/13/2019

@frankbeswick - Thanks for educating me on a new word Birder. It is amazing to see how these words find their way into Encyclopaedia and Dictionary. Birders indeed are used for Bird Watchers and Bird Raisers.

frankbeswick on 02/12/2019

A point of usage. British English speaks of birders as bird watchers, though the American term birder is finding its way into British English. But never call a birder a twitcher. They take it as an insult, for twitchers are those who flock to see only rare species or occasional visitors to our shores. Birders watch all species.

MBC on 02/11/2019

One of the things I love most about birding is that it helps people to become environmentally conscious and active. Well written article.

dustytoes on 02/09/2019

Well I love birds, so I enjoyed this article. Living in Florida means there are birds around all the time. In my backyard I regularly see cardinals, catbirds, wrens, and bluejays. There are others which I can't identify, and then there are the birds that walk through the yard - the Sandhill Cranes and white Ibis. I love to wake up to the sounds of songbirds.

You might also like

The Fascinating World of Birds and Secrets of Bird Watching

There is so much to explore from the fascinating world of birds which are uni...

Bird Watching Scope – How to Get Most Out of The Telescope?

Bird Watching Scope is essential to a person who loves watching birds. With t...


Disclosure: This page generates income for authors based on affiliate relationships with our partners, including Amazon, Google and others.
Loading ...
Error!