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Thanks, and Re: More on Mockers



Hi Carolinabirders,

First off, thanks to the many folks who responded about the Carolina Wren 
nest in my housemate's car. She confirmed that it held no eggs and 
removed it yesterday. No sign of renesting in the neighborhood yet, but 
I'll keep my eyes peeled...

On Fri, 17 Mar 2000 steven.shultz@us.pwcglobal.com wrote:
> 
> I've often wondered if the change in ABA rules to allow birds to be 
> counted by sound rather than sight would lead to an increased number of 
> erroneous reports. Although many are familiar with the mimic thrushes 
> habit of repeating a sound once, twice, or three times (I think
> the order is Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Mockingbird), a fragmented
> call or a bird not vocalizing in the typical way could reasonably be 
> considered an impediment to birding by sound.  Of course if it repeats 
> "here I am,  where are you?" 58 times in a row you can be pretty 
> certain you have a Red-eyed Vireo, but if the call if heard only once 
> or twice?  I would imagine that a mimic learning a new call might 
> practice a bit before adding to its collection of song.

This issue can be a bit of a problem at times. I have only run afoul of 
it with respect to the goatsuckers (nightjars). Shortly after flushing my 
lifer Chuck-will's-widow in Texas, I heard the bird's call around 2 AM 
nearby. However, I returned later and listsened more closely, and heard 
some other songs as well. The acoustics were such that the Mockingbird's 
imitation of the Chuck was carrying further than the other parts of its 
song, so at first listen only the Chuck imitation was audible. The Mocker 
was up late singing around a well-lit parking lot near the UT-Arlington 
biology building.

I have heard of several out-of-town visiting birders in southeastern 
Arizona ticking off heard-only Buff-collared Nightjars, then leaving, and 
never finding out that other birders who stayed longer eventually 
confirmed that the calls were coming from Mockingbirds. Presumably the 
mockers were migrating, having picked up the Nightjar's song down in 
Mexico before coming north. I heard a few mockers in SE AZ imitating the 
B-C Nightjar, but have never heard the real thing, yet.

Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/