White-throated Sparrow | The Music of Nature

Adirondack Brook

by Lang Elliott · March 25, 2011 · 10 Comments

Hey everyone! The spring field season is almost upon me and I won’t be able to continue posting regularly beyond the end of March – I figured I’d better warn you. However, I hope to blog regularly during my journeys, perhaps every two days or so.

My first adventure will be spending 10-12 days in the Smoky Mountains in mid-April. Ted Mack will accompany me. We’re going to enjoy the wildflowers and some early spring soundscapes. After that, I’ll be heading up to the Canadian northwoods to record Loons. Finally, when June rolls around, I plan to drive all the way to the Rocky Mountains for more exciting adventures.

—————————————

I captured today’s recording, Adirondack Brook, way back in 1995 in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I set my microphone next to a small creek where the water made hollow gurgles as it passed over stones. A Northern Parula sang it’s buzzy zeeeeee-up! from a maple tree overhead. White-throated Sparrows were abundant, giving pure tone whistles from pines and firs. A Canada Warbler added its choppy notes to the mix and Ruby-crowned Kinglet topped things off with his spirited melody. Listen also for the chatter of a Red Squirrel and the hum of bees:

Gurgling water with Northern Parula, White-throated Sparrow, Canada Warbler, & Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 6:15am, 13 June 1995. Adirondack Mtns., Paul Smiths, NY. Recorded by Lang Elliott.

This soundscape recording could easily be categorized as “species portrait” because it emphasizes the song of the Northern Parula. Do you like it? I worked really hard to make it usable. Apparently, one microphone was going bad and it produced some high pitch tones that I’ve tried to eliminate. There were other problems as well, such as a lot of high frequency hiss in the bad channel, but I think I did a fairly good job resolving everything. Let me know what you think? Does this recording sound good to you? I really like it.

Whitethroat Migration

by Lang Elliott · February 20, 2011 · 10 Comments

I figured it would be a good idea to follow up the snapping turtle recording with something a little easier on the ears. So here is a pleasant soundscape I recorded in late late April of 2000 at Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky. It features the sweet, pure whistles of several migrating White-throated Sparrows, along with other bird sounds and the gentle trickle of a spring freshet:

White-throated Sparrows singing during migration, 8am, 25 April 2000, Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky. Recorded by Lang Elliott.

This soundscape is rather brief—after about three minutes, the white-throats moved off. But I was happy with my catch, which reminds me of the pleasure I feel when I stumble on to small groups of white-throats during spring migration. Their rather subdued “migration songs” seemed so out of place, given that this species breeds in spruce and fir forests nearly a thousand miles to the north.

D’ya like?

White-throated Sparrow: Whistler of the North

by Lang Elliott · February 10, 2010 · 1 Comment

> HD version.

Among our native sparrows (family Emberizidae), there are a number of beautiful singers. The Fox Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, and Bachman’s Sparrow come to mind—all possess rather complex, melodic songs. But to me, perhaps of the most beautiful sparrow song of all is that of the White-throated Sparrow, a handsome species that breeds in northern areas where spruce and fir trees abound (see range map).

The song of the male is simple yet elegant. It is composed of clear, pure whistles. There is usually a noticeable pitch change at the beginning of each song (after the first or second note) and most songs end with two or three “triplets”—whistles that are composed of three obvious pulses.

Individual males sing only one stereotyped song pattern, and neighboring males may sing noticeably different songs. The cadence of one common song pattern is revealed by two popular memory phrases: “My Sweet, Canada, Canada, Canada” and “Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.” Below is an example of a song that closely fits the cadence of these memory phrases (the song is repeated twice with a long silent interval removed):

White-throated Sparrow song. 9 June 1990. Adirondack Mountains near Paul Smiths New York. Recorded by Lang Elliott.

Our Video Footage: Our featured video is composed of footage that was gathered near Paul Smiths, New York, in the northern reaches of the Adirondack Mountain region of upstate New York. The setting was an open parkland populated by an abundance of balsam fir trees, most below twenty feet in height. The situation was perfect for videotaping because we could easily follow birds around and get good views. Nothing beats watching a male White-throated Sparrow sing his heart out from high in a Balsam Fir!

Color Morphs: The White-throated is unique among birds in that it exhibits two distinct color morphs that coexist in populations. Some individuals have striking white throats and a prominent white stripe above each eye—these are referred to as white-striped. Other individuals have dull white throats and a tan stripe above each eye—these are referred to as tan striped. There is a genetic basis for these differences and researchers have discovered that white-striped males are more aggressive and territorial than tan-striped males. It is also interesting that white-striped females often produce songs, although they are generally shorter in duration and less steady in pitch than male songs.

Dawn Chorus: Below is a gentle twittering dawn chorus from the same location that we gathered our video footage. A male White-throated Sparrow is singing close by and a number of others can be heard sounding off at various distances in the background. American Robins can also be heard, along with Nashville Warbler. Mink Frogs, Green Frogs, and a Red-winged Blackbird sound off from a nearby wetland:

Dawn chorus dominated by White-throated Sparrows. 4:30 am. 6 May 2009. Near Paul Smiths New York in the Adirondack Mountain region of upstate New York. Recorded by Lang Elliott.

If you’re wondering where the Adirondacks Mountains are located, here is a map (note: we are not revealing the exact location where we gathered our video and recordings):