Grassland Soundscape

Program Description

Grassland songbirds don't have to contend with dense sound-deadening vegetation. Their songs are generally higher-pitched and more complex than those of forest songbirds. These complex songs are also less affected by wind and the pockets of temperature variation that can occur in the open countryside.

In addition to having complex melodies, grassland birdsong tends to have complex rhythms as well. The songs carry information both in their rhythmic pattern and in their notes, so the two reinforce each other, making sure the song is recognized over long distances.

And little repeated trills seem to function like redundant information, making complex songs with trills and warbles (like the western meadowlark's) especially good for carrying across the meadow to others

Program & Recording Notes

The songs of the savannah sparrow, western meadowlark, and varied thrush can all be found on the CD set Bird Songs of California produced by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

I slowed the song of the savannah sparrow using Bias Peak.

Series 3
Egg Calls
Chick ID Calls
Chicken Calls
Vocal Tract
Syrinx Styles
Airway Model
Airway Overtones
Coiled Trachea
Beak & Airway
Vowels & Airway
Tuvan Throat Singing
Whistling

Series 4
Size & Sound
Forest Soundscape
Grassland Soundscape
Bird Hearing
Local Dialects
Regional Dialects
Drumming - Woodpeckers Etc.
Bird Tongues
Bird Brains & Singing
Song Duels?
Dawn Chorus
Finale: Song Sparrow