Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University - An Anthology of Over 200 American Bird Songs
This is a 3 record set that includes a booklet that identifies the species of bird heard on the recording in which band on which record. Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology is considered one of the top institutions (perhaps the best) in bird research.
Modern sound recording has added a new dimension to our awareness of bird music. Bird watchers are becoming bird listeners and an expert may do most of his field work by ear. The duck hunter or bird student who is out in the marsh is no longer deaf to the dawn voices that speak from the cattails. Unseen rails cluck and grunt, announcing their specific identity - King, Virginia, Sora, or Clapper. Marsh Wrens scold, Red-winged Blackbirds chatter, Black Ducks or Mallards quack.
But it comes as a surprise to learn that not all ducks quack and that when they do it is usually the female that makes these coarse sounds. Some ducks whistle; the male Wood Duck does, so does the Widgeon. Others squeal or purr. Perhaps the duck that most deserves the title of "duck songbird" is the Oldsquaw with its unusual owl-omelette. However, this needle-tailed duck is not likely to be heard from a blind in the marsh; its domain is the sea and the offshore jetties where the waves usually drown out the sound of its voice.
Because the marsh is most vocal at dawn when the light is too dim to see things clearly, many voices may go unidentified. Not so if the listener has boned up on the recordings in this album. He may distinguish between male and female Mallards, male and female Wood Ducks, and perhaps may even detect the deep voice of the rare Trumpeter Swan among the softer notes of the Whistlers.
Bird sounds, like human sounds, are means of communication. Each species has its own language, understood by others of its kind. The rattle of a kingfisher is totally unlike any sound made by a yellowlegs. That is to be expected, for they are not even remotely related. But each species of duck has a recognizably different voice - all except the Mallard and the Black, which really belong to one superspecies anyway. They speak in much the same tongue and are not averse to crossing blood-lines.
Play these recordings, listen to them carefully, and play them again. You will soon be able to hold your own in the field among the experts. (Roger Tory Peterson)
Tracklisting:
Record 1
Side 1
1. Introduction {0:41}
2. Birds of the North Woods {4:46}
3. Birds of the North Woods (contd.) (1) {4:40}
4. Birds of the North Woods (contd.) (2) {3:10}
5. Birds of Northern Gardens and Shade Trees {3:58}
6. Birds of Northern Gardens and Shade Trees {4:33}
Side 2
1. Birds of Southern Woods and Gardens {3:04}
2. Birds of Southern Woods and Gardens (contd.) {3:42}
3. Birds of Fields and Prairies {3:56}
4. Birds of Fields and Prairies (contd.) {2:52}
5. American Game Birds {4:40}
6. American Game Birds (contd.) {3:29}
Record 2
Side 1
1. Introduction/Some Familiar Birds of Gardens and Shade Trees {3:56}
2. Some Familiar Birds of Gardens and Shade Trees (contd.) {3:56}
3. Some Familiar Birds of the Roadside {3:52}
4. Some Familiar Birds of the Roadside (contd.) {3:43}
5. Some Birds of the Lakes and Marshes {3:52}
Side 2
1. Some Birds of the Lakes and Marshes (contd.) {4:00}
2. More Birds of the Marshes {3:55}
3. More Birds of the Marshes (contd.) {3:51}
4. Some North American Warblers {3:56}
5. Some North American Warblers (contd.) {3:53}
Record 3
Side 1
1. An Evening in Sapsucker Woods: The Songs of Birds and Other Denizens of a Northeastern Woodland (with commentary by Arthur A. Allen) {13:07}
2. The Sounds of Nature Continue Without the Interruption of a Human Voice {12:48}
Side 2
1. The Sounds of Dawn in a Duckblind (with commentary by Arthur A. Allen) {12:44}
2. Sounds of Water Fowl (unannounced) {10:25}
3. Mallard Calls {1:00}