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b&w warbler, weird-singing towhee



Mild, blustery weather brought some interesting birds to our yard in north
Asheville today.

A male Black-and-white Warbler foraged morning and afternoon around the
house.  Two Red-breasted Nuthatches and a couple of Pine Siskins worked in
the same big trees at the same time this afternoon.

And then there was the male Eastern Towhee nearby, singing, repeatedly, a
distinctly non-Towhee song.  It consists of about five notes and is very
warbler-like.  It's been singing this tune since late winter, but now seems
to be using it to claim territory or find a mate.

All I can figure is that the bird aurally imprinted on the song of a
neighbor's caged exotic bird (species unknown to me, but we heard it daily
last year in warm weather, when windows and doors of our
non-air-conditioned houses were open).  I'll dig out some references to
look for information about wrong songs, but if any of you has run across
info on that subject, pls let me know.

Len Pardue, Asheville, NC