WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 35
  1. #1

    Default Top ten bird songs?

    Birding by sound seems to be the most productive way of enjoying birds while hiking. What are the top ten songs to set to mermory before an AT hike?

  2. #2
    Musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night. Heater's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-11-2005
    Location
    Austin, Texas
    Posts
    5,228
    Images
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by madmantra
    Birding by sound seems to be the most productive way of enjoying birds while hiking. What are the top ten songs to set to mermory before an AT hike?
    Freebird.

  3. #3
    CDT - 2013, PCT - 2009, AT - 1300 miles done burger's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-03-2005
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    1,437

    Default

    Haven't hiked a lot of areas yet, but from my experience in the region:

    wood thrush
    ovenbird
    red-eyed vireo
    hermit thrush
    black-capped chickadee (easiest song in the world to learn)
    northern cardinal
    indigo bunting
    scarlet tanager
    eastern wood-pewee
    ruffed grouse (learn the sound of a bird exploding from under your feet)

    There's a lot of turnover between GA and ME, but this would be a decent starting list.

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-28-2005
    Location
    Fuquay-Varina, NC
    Posts
    7

    Default

    Eight Miles High (The long version)

  5. #5
    Twisted Walkingstick Chip's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-20-2004
    Location
    Asheville, NC
    Posts
    365

    Default

    Indigo Bunting
    Wood Thrush
    American Robin
    Carolina Chickadee
    Crow
    Eastern Bluebird
    Cardinal
    Towhee
    Blue Jay
    Nuthatch
    Wren
    Pileated Woodpecker
    Ruffed Grouse
    Wild Turkey
    Red Tailed Hawk
    Eastern Screech owl

    Just to list a few .
    If we look at the path, we do not see the sky. We are earth people on a spiritual journey to the stars. Our quest, our earth walk is to look within, to know who we are, to see that we are connected to all things, that there is no separation, only in the mind.
    - Native American, source unknown

  6. #6
    Registered User Dances with Mice's Avatar
    Join Date
    05-20-2003
    Location
    North Georgia
    Posts
    3,974
    Images
    147

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by madmantra
    What are the top ten songs to set to mermory before an AT hike?
    Bottom Ten has to lead off with the #@$%&* whippoorwills.
    You never turned around to see the frowns
    On the jugglers and the clowns
    When they all did tricks for you.

  7. #7
    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-12-2002
    Location
    Marlboro, MA
    Posts
    7,145
    Journal Entries
    1
    Images
    1

    Default

    White-throated sparrow! Old Sam Peabody, Peabody.

  8. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-27-2005
    Location
    Berks County, PA
    Age
    62
    Posts
    7,159
    Images
    13

    Default What Rick said

    Yesterday I had trouble posting and got tired of trying.

    Hiking high in the mountains of northern New England with the aroma of balsam and the song of the white-throated sparrow in the air is about as good as life gets.

    Whenever I hear their song in the spring and fall as they pass through eastern Pennsylvania, I am reminded of times spent on the Long Trail and the A.T. in New Hampshire and Maine.

  9. #9

    Default

    Thats a good start, I think I'd throw in the Barred Owl, Rose Breasted Gross Beak, Thrasher vs Mocking vs Catbird. Wounder if I can put the Peterson's on MP3? That would be nice.

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-27-2005
    Location
    Berks County, PA
    Age
    62
    Posts
    7,159
    Images
    13

    Default Cornell Lab of Ornithology


  11. #11
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-23-2006
    Location
    Austin, Texas
    Posts
    365

    Default

    These lists are pretty good. To hear some of these calls, another site is 'New York State Birds', but it covers most of the birds you hear on the AT.
    http://www.math.sunysb.edu/~tony/birds/index.html

    The recordings are iffy. For example, the clip for the Eastern Towhee doesn't go "Drink your te-e-e-ea!" And that is one of the earliest ones NOBOs will start noticing.

    The thrushes, wood and hermit, will start waking you up at 4 a.m., so get to know your alarm clock. Their calls are piercing.

    The barred owl goes, "Who cooks for YOU!" with a gutteral YOU. This is the BIG owl you may see perched near the trail who takes off on silent wings.

    When you hear a wavering cooing call late at night, it's the screech owl. I don't know why they call that shy whimper a screech. These little owls are no bigger than your fist, so you have to look closely to see their eyes at night.

    There are several woodpecker calls that you will hear constantly: pilliated, flickers, red-bellied, esp.

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-27-2005
    Location
    Berks County, PA
    Age
    62
    Posts
    7,159
    Images
    13

    Default Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

    Birding enthusiasts should not miss their visitor center, a short walk uphill from the Eckville Shelter/Hostel managed by BMECC near Kempton, PA.

    http://www.hawkmountain.org

  13. #13

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rickboudrie
    White-throated sparrow! Old Sam Peabody, Peabody.
    Absolutely! My favorite!

  14. #14
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-27-2005
    Location
    Berks County, PA
    Age
    62
    Posts
    7,159
    Images
    13

    Default Peterson Field Guides anyone?


  15. #15

    Default

    Add the red winged blackbird to that list. It's often heard in lowland areas near water.
    As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11

  16. #16
    Registered User Lobo's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-03-2004
    Location
    Lancaster, PA
    Age
    77
    Posts
    131
    Images
    33

    Default

    I finished my hike in Maine July 20, 2000 but then had to return to PA to finish a three day skipped section. The three most common bird songs in Maine at that time were the Winter Wren, White-throated Sparrow & the Dark-eyed Junco. Back in PA Red-eyed Vireos, Indigo Buntings and Towhees were the three most common.

  17. #17
    Registered User Mr. Clean's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-09-2003
    Location
    Kennebunk, Maine
    Age
    62
    Posts
    590
    Images
    5

    Default

    Nothing quite like the sound of the different thrushes on a quiet evening sitting quietly in camp.....
    Greg P.

  18. #18
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-14-2006
    Location
    The wilds of Maine
    Posts
    2,983

    Default

    The Hermit Thrush is the rooster of the woods .

  19. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-11-2005
    Location
    Gainesville, Florida
    Age
    69
    Posts
    7,159
    Images
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by woodsy
    The Hermit Thrush is the rooster of the woods .
    I don't know my bird songs but I think it's some kind of thrush that I hear in the southern appalachians. It sounds like it's singing in a long tube. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Can you tell me what I'm hearing?

  20. #20

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •