2. White-breasted nuthatch songs.
2. Birds and Their Sounds
Birds sing and call
From page 9 in the book.
White-breasted nuthatch songs. A male white-breasted nuthatch is believed to have just two songs, one slow, one fast, and he repeats one song many times before switching to his other (see "How a Repertoire Is Delivered," p. 94). But how many times? Does he favor one song over the other? Just a few minutes of concentrated counting with a nuthatch will take you places where it seems that no one before has explored.
A more advanced project for the curious naturalist might ask if all white-breasted nuthatches in a population sing at the same slow and fast rates. You will need to record and measure songs, all readily doable if you are interested (see p. 179). I have wanted to do this project for years, as I have suspected that "just two songs per male, one fast and one slow" is oversimplified and might not accurately reflect what nuthatches actually do (see also p. 169, on the red-breasted nuthatch). This listening project is good for late winter or early spring, as nuthatches have an especially early singing season.