A resident of grassy meadows, male Bobolinks have a fantastic song—a rather unbelievable gurgling outburst of notes that reminds one of the voice of the droid R2-D2 in the Star Wars movies. F. Schuyler Mathews, author of Field Book of Wild Birds and Their Music (first published in 1904), described it as “a mad, reckless, song-fantasia, an outburst of pentup, irrepressible glee.”
Although I’ve gathered many closeup recordings of the male Bobolink’s song (see Bobolink Song Fantasia), I’ve found it difficult to get a good soundscape rendition of more than one male singing. I finally struck gold in the spring of 2009 while videotaping Bobolinks in the Finger Lakes National Forest in upstate New York. One dead-calm morning when there was no traffic or jet sounds, I put down my video gear and captured the following soundscape, which fully expresses the intense auditory excitement in the meadow when the Bobolinks are in full force:
Bobolinks and other birds singing in a grassy meadow, 5:45 am, 11 May 2009, Finger Lakes National Forest near Reynoldsville, New York. Recorded by Lang Elliott.
Busy indeed! But that is the essence of the experience, with male Bobolinks flying here and there, either chasing one another or in pursuit of females. They sing from perches and sing in flight. The meadow gurgles and vibrates with their songs. I rather like this recording. To me, it is comforting to listen to, largely because it brings to mind the simmering and seething of the meadow in spring. It is an engaging soundscape, with lots of activity, but it is not hard on the ears.
Notice the nice spread of sound, with two Bobolinks singing from close by, one to the left and the other to the right. Woodpeckers sound off in the distance, their drums reverberating across the landscape. Listen also for the conk-la-reees of Red-winged Blackbirds and the songs of other meadow birds such as Field Sparrow and Savannah Sparrow. A cardinal sings at times and I believe I hear the calls of Blue Jays here and there. So rich and full of sound!
What do you think? Do you like this soundscape? Do you already know the Bobolink and its song? Does this recording bring to mind the peak of excitement that is so characteristic of spring? Or is all the activity overwhelming and cacophonous to your ear?
While males are easy to recognize by their striking black-and-white plumage, females are a buffy yellow-brown and might easily be confused with female Red-winged Blackbirds that frequent the same habitat. Once a male has established a territory, he will court a female by rapidly chasing her around the meadow. Other males may also give pursuit, but eventually the female settles into the territory of one male to lay her eggs. Males are “polygynous” in that a male may have more than one female nested on his territory and father young with all of them. But his female residents may not be entirely faithful, and may lay clutches of eggs sired by more than one male!
