[CT Birds] Describing bird calls

[Dennis Varza]

Hi Folks

Occasionally there have been people requesting help with  
Identification of calls. They often put out some sort of phrase  
sequence as a description. We can do better than that. Below is a  
description of Whistling Swans calling made by Aretas A. Saunders as  
he watched a group birds fly by Penfield Reef in Fairfield (Auk Vol  
53: 204 1936)

"The call of the birds first attracted my attention to them. The  
sounds consisted of several short notes, not very loud, on two  
different pitches, about a major third apart. I determined the  
pitches to be F # and A # in the third octave above middle C. The  
quality suggested that of a reed instrument such as a clarinet or oboe."

Now THAT is a description.

Dennis Varza
Fairfield