ML48845441
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
- Playback
- Playback used
Media notes
Many birds in riparian willows along McClellan Creek responding to playback of Northern Pygmy-owl calls. Seemed unusual to hear a kinglet in leafless willows.
Observation details
Heard calls from riparian willows along McClellan Cr, associated with chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncoes, and a flock of Pine Siskins. Coming from relatively low, probably within 1 m of the ground. Never did see the bird. I heard both short, very high "tsit tsit" calls, and a longer, high, burry "szee" call, reminiscent of a Brown Creeper. It sounded like the bird was within 10 m of me. I got recordings of the latter call, mixed in the calls from many other passerines. Compare to https://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/50128; looking at the spectogram will help pick out the high-pitched kinglet calls on my recording, around 8000 Hz. I have a lot of experience with Golden-crowned Kinglets in the Idaho panhandle, including frequently identifying them by ear. When I first heard this bird, I immediately thought of either a kinglet of a Brown Creeper. The microhabitat (willows in winter) seemed unusual for both, but especially so for Brown Creeper; the "tsit tsit" calls eliminated creeper as a possibility. While this species also has high-pitched, short calls, the tone is different. Although I usually associate GCKI with conifers in winter, I have seen them foraging in leafless deciduous trees on one occasion in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
Technical information
- Recorder
- TASCAM DR-05
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 3.18 MB