Birdsong for the
Curious Naturalist

76. Get to know this wren!

9. Music to Our Ears
Music to my ears—author's choice
From page 168 in the book.

Get to know this wren! The recording of an entire dawn chorus by an individual is not easy to come by, but here are two dawns from the same individual. Intrigued, I began asking questions, and answering some of the simpler ones. How many songs does he sing each morning? Of how many different types? For how many minutes each? How often does he repeat one of his songs before moving on to another? Any pattern in how he calls between songs? There are so many ways to quantify what he is up to, and in the numbering and counting one comes to appreciate better the life of this singing being.