ML583313361
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult Male - 1
- Behaviors
- Courtship, display, or copulation
- Sounds
- Song
- Playback
- Playback not used
Media notes
One cycle of song recorded at 7:16am at edge of forest looking into south end of marsh. Heard not seen. From later recordings would guess I was 80ft from bird. Weather: fog, low 50s.
Observation details
total of 25 cycles of song over 55 minutes. recorded from 4 locations and approached incrementally. First at forest/marsh edge (80 ft), then into march at 60 ft, 50 ft and 40 ft away from the American Bittern. In all but the first location, I could see the bird. Calling was full bodied as described in "All About Birds" The male’s call is preceded by clacking and gulping. To accomplish the pump-er-lunk sound, the male inflates his esophagus by way of almost violent body contortions—opening and closing his bill as if lunging for flying insects—and then uses the stored air to unleash his call."
Additional species
Technical information
- Recorder
- Sound Devices Mix Pre-3 II
- Microphone
- Sennheiser ME66
- Accessories
- Sennheiser MZW60-1 Blimp
- Original file size
- 3.02 MB