ML616658421
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Observation details
The bird in the photo was singing a simple "bouncing ball" song similar in overall structure to the song of a Wrentit. In the audio clip, there are two instances of this bird's "bouncing ball" song and, between them, a more typical, complex song of a different Song Sparrow (not seen). The audio clip and photo were taken from a video I took that clearly shows this Song Sparrow singing the "bouncing ball" song. Strangely, there is a 1977 paper by Eberhard and Baptista that reports Song Sparrows imitating Wrentit vocalizations, but in that case the Song Sparrows were incorporating what appeared to be Wrentit syllables into their songs, not singing a song with an overall structure similar to a Wrentit's song. Of course, it's speculation at this point that the bird I heard had learned that song from hearing Wrentits singing.
Technical information
- Recorder
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 2.32 MB