Chestnut-sided warbler in a black locust (Centennial Woods)
Music is not my thing. I’ve been told that I have a unique sense of rhythm. With the exception of maybe Wonderwall by Oasis I have a hard time remembering lyrics to any song. There’s just something about musically intoned words that my brain has a nearly impossible time remembering. So it has been with great difficult that I’ve tried to remember the various noises a bird makes as it goes about its business. Fortunately, more apt birders have come up with a slew of mnemonics for remembering the difference between, say, the song of a Carolina wren (“teakettle teakettle teakettle”) and that of an ovenbird (“teacher teacher teacher”).
While out in Centennial Woods today I heard the lovely song of the chestnut-sided warbler. It’s a friendly chap, singing “Pleased pleased pleased to meet-CHA.” There were a half dozen or so singing under the powerlines, all apparently very excited to see each other. I captured a video to record the sound. The video is garbage, shakey and out of focus – tried to catch it before it filtted off, but the sound is reasonably good.
Some helpful resources for bird mnemonics:
