Golden-Crowned Puzzle

Day 205: "Tsee-see, soo-soo! Tsee-see, soo-soo!" The pitch was the same as that of the Varied Thrush, but two sets of two syllables instead of one with the notes widely separated, and without the burriness of the Thrush's call. I hear the bird every spring and, to the best of my knowledge, had never laid eyes on it, or at least not to see it issuing the call. "Tsee-see, soo-soo!" was driving me nuts. I listened to every recording of bird calls I have in the house, including the full eight hours of "Birding By Ear," tried different internet sources for recordings and/or mnemonic guides, but nothing fit with the song I was hearing. It had to be a fairly common bird, so I sat out on my back porch, listening. Ten minutes into my vigil, I heard it at a distance. I tried whistling the call, knowing that I can do a passin' fair Varied Thrush owing to the fact that I don't whistle well; in fact, my whistle is thready and weak, somewhat doubled by a crooked front tooth. Sure enough, "Tsee-see, soo-soo!" echoed back to me from a nearby shrub. I whistled again. The response was immediate. Back and forth we went, talking to each other, until finally the bird moved into visual range. I whistled again, and the Golden-Crowned Sparrow perched on the end of the raspberry cage opened its beak and issued his reply. Satisfied that I had solved a mystery of some years' standing, I double-checked with Cornell Labs' "All About Birds" recordings. Yup, Golden-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia atricapilla. "Tsee-see, soo-soo!" to you too, sir!

White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia Leucophrys

Day 194: I refer to them as "racing-stripe sparrows" or "the guys with the go-faster stripes." The head of the White-Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is marked by three distinct white stripes, one through each eye and one on the crown which meet at the back of the head, which makes the bird look as if it's wearing a bicycle helmet. When the bird is excited or curious, it may raise its crown feathers. As a species, they are gregarious little critters, often feeding among other birds including juncos and other sparrows. Their primary diet consists of weed and grass seeds, as well as a wide variety of insects and even some small fruits such as elderberries or blackberries. Their feeding habits resemble those of the Spotted Towhee: hop, scratch, hop-back-scratch. This action raises seeds and bugs to the surface where they are more accessible. White-Crowned Sparrows tend to stay in any given area, so their song often shows dialectic differences in different regions. Males which live on the border between two regions may learn to sing two different dialects. The locals can often be heard calling for "more cheezies," one of the mnemonics which can be used to identify this bird by ear.

Jay Joy

Day 82: I hear a lot of people complain, "Oh, those Steller's Jays! They're so noisy!" and in fact their call is often referred to as "scolding." However, these corvids are also mimics, and can do a very good imitation of a Red-tailed Hawk's "keeeeer!", a talent which often secures the best spots at the feeders for them. However, as the little boy who cried "Wolf!" learned, with familiarity comes complacency, "Yeah, that's just ol' Blue again, trying to frighten us away." Inevitably, the penalty is sometimes exacted when a real hawk is in the neighborhood and a hapless junco or sparrow fails to check the source of the sound. That said, when the Jays put up a fuss, it generally means we should all stop what we're doing and look around us. There may be a good reason they're giving a general alert.