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Bird songs and mnemonic phrases: how many do you know? (1 Viewer)

gmax

gmax

Sontium Dweller
Hello everybody,
as a non-English speaking birder, I've always been fascinated by the many familiar mnemonic tricks used to memorize bird songs and calls on both sides of the Pond, like Old Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody for the White-throated Sparrow (US) or A little bit of bread and NO cheese for the Yellowhammer (UK) ...

I assume that nowadays there are many technological audio tools to help us learning bird songs, which were not available in the past, when resorting to these "tricks" was the only solution.

So I thought it would be interesting to collect them in a thread and discuss their usage and efficacy before they disappear from everyday birding activities.
I'd be very pleased if anybody would support this thread with their own contribution B :)

Thank you in advance,
Max
 
3 regulars from my backyard in Reno--

"Where are you, where are you" (California Quail)
"Cheeseburger" (Mountain Chickadee)
"No gold here" (Golden-crowned Sparrow)

And, from further afield, that odd question from a forest bird, "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" (Barred Owl).
 
Perhaps I'm just weird but I never found mnemonics helpful - in fact a few are downright confusing to me, like the "pleased pleased to MEETCHA" of the Chestnut-sided Warbler or the "sweeter sweeter SWEETEST" of Magnolia Warbler. But I'm a very non-verbal thinker.

Some others that I've heard:

"potato chip" - flight call of American Goldfinch
"tea kettle tea kettle tea!" Carolina Wren
"drink your TEA" Eastern Towhee

and my favorite (not because I find it helpful but because I find it hilarious):

"I'm going to grab you and hold you and squeeze you till you squirt!" or something like that. -Warbling Vireo
 
The call of Red-browed Parrot sounds like "Parrot parrot!" to me.

But many are far-fetched indeed. Just try to hear the German "Ich sing immer noch schlecht" (I still sing badly) in Reed Bunting.
 
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I have never figured out the mnemonics of birdwatching. When someone points the phrase out I still can't hear it.
 
The chaffinch I've heard described as a bowler's run-up in the game of cricket, getting faster paced and then a flourish.
A friend used to invent his own mnemonics, so, to distinguish between the two partridge species' calls in the UK, he invented "red-the-leg, red-the-leg, red-the-leg" for the rhythmic sound of the red legged partridge and a long drawn out, wheezy "g--r--e--y" for its cousin. He also came up with a very fast spoken "lesser lesser lesser lesser whitethroat".
"Chiswick flyover" is often used to describe the pied wagtail, because its call sounds like "Chiswick".

Peter
 
One used quite often in the UK is "teacher-teacher" for Great Tit. However, the ones I hear in Cyprus don't utter this call at all!


Shane
 
"Wet-my-lips, wet-my-lips" is used by the older birders in the UK for the elusive, but vocal, quail. I'm not sure the younger birders use the phrase, though.

Peter
 
In Nepal the call of the Indian Cuckoo is rendered as "kaiphal pakkyo" in Nepali (spelt phonetically here in English) - kaiphal is a yellow raspberry type fruit & I believe pakkyo means ripe or ready; the cuckoo starts calling as the berries ripen.
 
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