It does yell a lot for food.

Denise Hughes
Caldwell, Idaho

Yeah, call it “grown kid still living in their parent’s basement syndrome.” That looks like a baby that’s taking growing up rather hard . . .

Mark Stackhouse
westwings@sisna.com
from Mexico:
01-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit)
001-801-518-5618 (cellular – U.S. and Mexico)
from U.S.
011-52-323-285-1243 or
1-801-518-5618

Wow — this is a good one! I agree with Elizabeth about the opening notes being Vesper Sparrow like – though my experience is the Vesper Sparrows around here stopped singing some time back. I am not sure about catbird — they don’t seem to repeat the same note several times in a row, more up and down variation (or whatever the correct term is.) I can go with Bewick’s Wren though I am most familiar with what has been called the “Rotary Dial Phone” vocalizations like at: https://www.xeno-canto.org/647162.  But, as everyone tells me: “Bewick’s Wrens have a song for every month of the year except May when they use them all”.

Scott

Thanks.

Thanks Dean.

Does anyone know what this young grebe is doing? I’ve noticed this a few times in the last couple of weeks. It tried to climb on its parent’s back with no success. Then it put it’s head down behind the adult.

Denise Hughes
Caldwell, Idaho

I agree with Jay – there are some signature phrases for Bewick’s Wren, in particular the bell-like slow trill, “ding-ding-ding-ding,” that appears several times (at 8 sec, 16 sec, 38 sec). I think that’s what Jay is calling “Song Sparrow-like,” but I find it even more similar to the ending of Black-throated Sparrow. The rest of the song is easily within the varied repertoire of Bewick’s Wren, but in my experience virtually every Bewick’s Wren, in the west at least, throws in that bell-like slow trill at random intervals during its song.