They’ve Changed Their Tune

 Chickadees and other Maine birds announce that spring will arrive soon.

Spring bird songs return to Maine woods and backyards 

By James Reddoch 

The first day of spring (March 20 this year) always catches me off guard here in the north. Even though the days are longer, there is still plenty of snow and cold in the forecast. So talk of spring seems premature at best. On darker days, I suspect this chatter is fake news perpetuated by overly chipper weather forecasters or people living in the south gloating about how good they’ve got it. There are, however, other signs suggesting this is more than a conspiracy theory. Birds have changed their tune as well. 

Chickadees still scold me when I go out to fill the feeders, but from the woods’ edge I hear them singing “fee-bee” more and more often. This song is associated with males beginning to establish breeding territories and hoping to attract a mate. I like to think they are singing, “Hey Sweetie.” 

White-breasted nuthatches, often the males, have begun singing a rapid, nasal series of “wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha” notes, a melody that makes the chicks go wild. At least that’s what I imagine, since scientists tell me this song is associated with territorial defense and courtship. 

“The snow may linger, but the songs of spring have already begun.”

Other winter residents have changed their tune, too. Purple and house finches are singing their bubbly songs from top branches. Hairy and downy woodpeckers (both male and female) drum with increasing intensity – their version of singing during courtship and nest selection.

All of this, and more, is happening as Bernd Heinrich noted in his book The Nesting Season, “…on a precisely choreographed schedule set to internally timed annual rhythms.” I may not understand these annual rhythms, but fake news it is not. Birds all around me have changed their tune, and these chirps and squawks will continue to build into a full symphony as migrants join in with their songs in a few short weeks. 

If you are curious about bird songs, consider joining me for Chirps, Squawks, and Symphonies, a webinar on April 15. It’s a chance to explore bird songs you may hear in your backyard and beyond. It will be followed by a field trip on April 18, when we will experiment with Merlin, a bird song app, and practice listening for early spring songsters. I hope to see you then. In the meantime, pay attention to the changing tunes in your yard. 

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Sources: 

Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home 

The Nesting Season: Cuckoos, Cuckolds, and the Invention of Monongamy. Bernd Heinrich. Belknap Press, 2011. 

Photo Credit: By tsaiproject and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.