Birdsong for the
Curious Naturalist

Blue grosbeak

Chapter 10: More birds! More Sounds!
Subchapter: More birds! More Sounds!—Americas
From page 169 in the book.

In the family Cardinalidae, the blue grosbeak is a distant relative to the superbly singing rose-breasted and black-headed grosbeaks in the genus Pheucticus, but a close relative of the indigo, lazuli, and painted buntings in the genus Passerina. What's your impression of this bird? How does its singing compare to that of the buntings? Can you detect any pattern in how this Texas male is singing?

♫695. I set the microphone down by this male's singing tree and came back hours later to discover that he had in fact obliged. At 19:20 the recording fades out and then back in, denoting a silence from this bird of about 50 minutes. Can you detect any pattern in how this Texas male is singing? April 22, 2013. Kerr Wildlife Management Area, Hunt, Texas. (23:54)