American robin
Chapter 2: Birds and Their Sounds
Subchapter: Birds sing and call
From page 10 in the book.
Photo by Wil Hershberger
♫14. Song: carols and hissellys (or eek!s). When a robin sings excitedly, sometimes it's not easy to classify his effort into carols and hissellys. In this recording, let's count the number of low carols that are followed by a single high hisselly: 3, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, and so on. We should keep in mind, of course, that this classification into carols and hissellys is a human attempt to grapple with what the robin is doing; in the robin's scheme, no such absolute categories may exist, and perhaps, under some circumstances, some of his song notes are "intended" to be intermediates. The common robin is not so well understood. May 24, 2017. Hadley, Massachusetts. (5:29)
♫15. Song: carols and hissellys. May 31, 2009. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. (3:18)
♫16. Song: carols and hissellys. May 16, 2010. Yorktown National Battlefield, Yorktown, Virginia. (1:10)
♫17. Song: hissellys only! Listen carefully to the pattern in which he delivers them. Hear how repetitive he is, offering several renditions of a hisselly before proceeding to another? April 24, 2014. Walsh Road, Au Sable State Forest, Lewiston, Michigan. (6:48)
♫18. Calls, when arriving in winter roost. January 15, 2006. Whately, Massachusetts. (1:27)
♫19. Calls, sharp and agitated, in defense of a nest. June 2, 2014. Mt. Greylock State Park, North Adams, Massachusetts. (0:29)
♫20. Calls, sounding perturbed; an adult northern hawk owl perches and calls overhead (e.g., at 0:08, 0:17, 0:30, and more) and young hawk owls wheeze down below, requesting a meal (e.g., 0:05, 0:06). A northern flicker also calls throughout the recording (e.g., at 0:04, 0:07, 0:08 . . . to 0:47). June 16, 2017. Slana, Alaska. (0:56)
♫21. Call: the "hawk alarm," high, thin, seemingly ventriloquial. June 25, 2012. Caribou, Maine. (1:12)