Gray catbird
Chapter 4: How a Bird Gets Its Song
Subchapter: Improvised songs
From page 49 in the book.
Photo by Brian E. Small
♫160. Song. Nearly two hours from the same catbird! I hoisted the microphone up into the tree where he sang and let him have at it. It would be some of the last birdsong to be heard during 2017, and I was going to get my fill. (I hadn't anticipated an early arrival of the garbage truck, lingering from 19:00 to 22:00.) This catbird has improvised almost all that he sings, but on occasion one hears what sounds like a blue jay . . . an eastern phoebe (clearly, at 2:52) . . . a Carolina wren . . . was that a wood thrush? Longer pauses between singing sessions are omitted and replaced with a three-second fade out and fade back in. July 12, 2017. Hatfield, Massachusetts. (1:49:55).
♫161. Song, with many imitations, such as those of willow flycatcher fitz-bew (e.g., at 0:01, 0:28), northern flicker klee-yer call (0:04), Say's phoebe song phrase (0:06, 0:13, 0:25), and more. May 27, 2009. Oxbow, Hells Canyon, Oregon. You can review the sounds of the willow flycatcher at ♫144-147, northern flicker at ♫335, and Say's phoebe at ♫384.