Your Birdsong Stays on My Mind; January 2012; Scientific American Magazine; by Jennifer Ouellette; 1 Page(s)

Birdsong—or, more technically, vocalization— is one way that die-hard bird-watchers identify different kinds of birds in the field, along with the more traditional visual markers. Yet how do you take written notes on the sounds that birds make? You could use conventional musical notation, but many bird-watchers aren’t musicians. Field guides often resort to vague phrases such as “far-carrying melancholic song” or the mysterious “tee-do-do-eet.” Also, how can birders identify strains of birdsong they may hear in the field?

Birdsong—or, more technically, vocalization— is one way that die-hard bird-watchers identify different kinds of birds in the field, along with the more traditional visual markers. Yet how do you take written notes on the sounds that birds make? You could use conventional musical notation, but many bird-watchers aren’t musicians. Field guides often resort to vague phrases such as “far-carrying melancholic song” or the mysterious “tee-do-do-eet.” Also, how can birders identify strains of birdsong they may hear in the field?