• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Why do birders primarily id by sight rather than sound? (1 Viewer)

P

Punchy71

Active member
Greetings,

I have been wondering lately; why most birders bird by sight rather than by sound?

Over the years I have come to the realization that I hear far, far more birds than I ever see out in the field. I hear far more birds (quantity wise) and far more different species by ear than I do with a pair of binoculars. And so this got me to thinking.... why do people bird primarily by sight with a pair of binoculars and perhaps a field guide rather than by sound? There doesn't seem to be many people who go out in the field with a parabolic dish reflector with microphone hooked to amplification/recording gear compared to the overwhelming number who tote a pair of binoculars or spotting scope out in the field...

Just an observation....

Thanks
 
I suppose if you can see 'em, you can see 'em, but you can only hear them if they make a sound. They'll sing for you only in Spring, and they'll only call occasionally the rest of the year. Can't rely on sound when sea- or hawk watching, for example.
 
Firstly, the hobby is called bird'watching' not bird listening. There is more pleasure in seeing the bird than listening to it. Some birders don't 'tick' heard only...

Secondly, the 'better' birders DO use sound as well as and in some cases more than sight. A 'guide' in Finland would be able to tell you what is coming some time before you see it - if ever. That said, for some people, it is difficult to capture a sound in your mind without actually seeing and hearing the bird regularly. For this reason I think most birders will recognise 'common' sounds - Green Woodpecker, Robin etc and differentiate between them but would the same birders recognise the contact call of a Rock Bunting? So maybe its more of an experience than quality thing. This could be down to circumstance of where you bird - in the woods, in the open, in a marsh - where ease or difficulty of seeing birds differs.

Thirdly, my father, for example, simply can't hear some birds ie a 'crest' because the call is too high.

I think on the whole birders use more sound id than you think. Also, when submitting certain records at least a decription of the sound, if not recording, are required - recent example would be the mystery melodious in the south of France debated on here. I personally hear a lot of birds that I can then filter out for further investigation - learn the common sounds to eliminate and therefore reduce time in the field chasing a Blackcap for example (unless you want to see one)...
 
As others are saying, use of sound is important. I have seen my local vireo in my garden 2-3 times this spring, but I know it has been singing daily because I hear it.

Secondly, if you are reporting to for example ebird, they want you to report everything you recorded including both birds seen and birds heard only.

Thirdly, some of us calls the hobby birding to get away from the stressing only using sight.

The difficulty of birding by ear is that some of us are more astute in learning views than sounds. To illustrate, I am always slower in the uptake of sound recognition than sight recognition when moving somewhere new. A related issue is (in a few places of the world) where you might hear not a bird but someone else playing a sound from their device in order to attract birds. Happened first time for me many years ago in a group of ruins in Mexico, where someone played a recording of a pygmy owl to attract small birds that would attack a real owl, had there been one.

Niels
 
Its easier to put a view in a field guide than to describe a sound.

However, my ears are at work the entire time I am out birding and I find most of my birds on call with the exceptions of seabirds and raptors - though I learned the call of Mediterranean Gull at the Short-toed Eagle twitch on Sunday.

John
 
As Sancho says, birds don't constantly vocalise, but nor are they constantly visible. So birders need to be able to identify species by both sight and sound.

Locally (mostly moors, farmland, woodland), I probably detect and identify far more birds by sound than sight. But it's obviously a very different matter when, eg, looking at distant wetland birds, soaring raptors, seawatching...
 
AFAIK, the visual cortex is more dominant (larger) than the auditory cortex. The result is that we're predisposed to sight over sound. It also explains why people seem unable to ignore a TV when it's switched on.
I sense, too, that a survey of people's favourite birds would show that colour and shape were preferred over song.

Peter
 
The real problem is identifying birds by sound when we're not supposed to be birding. My students have gotten used to me expounding on some arcane point of grammar only to turn my head, point out the window and say 'goldcrest!', or whatever. And if it happens when talking to adults, they just think one is weird.
 
Johann Sebastian Bach said:
AFAIK, the visual cortex is more dominant (larger) than the auditory cortex. The result is that we're predisposed to sight over sound. It also explains why people seem unable to ignore a TV when it's switched on. I sense, too, that a survey of people's favourite birds would show that colour and shape were preferred over song.
Peter
Click to expand...

I agree with your summary, Peter, but there are, as always, exceptions.

Having taken many people along on sessions to prepare them for bird survey work, there do seem to be quite a number of people who cannot recognise bird calls and bird songs, no matter how many times they hear them, and no matter how keen they are on birding (Yes, that's another Pheasant...).

Others have a short-term aural memory, and here I confess it took me decades to realise that this is a real condition and not just inattention (or, indeed, bloody-mindedness)! To me, one of the joys of life is revisiting an avifauna that I haven't heard for years, and instantly recognising sounds and remembering precisely where I had heard it previously.

I think this ability is linked to my memories of orchestral concerts in which there were split notes, a flawed key transition or mistimed entries, because when I hear the same piece played without these small errors, it's quite jolting how that former memory instantly comes to mind. My aural recall ability is far from guaranteed for immediate results, but those sounds that don't come to mind immediately, will eventually click into place. (It's also something that has often got me into trouble when I recall precisely what was said by someone, yet I failed to remember that at the time what the person meant was something different...).

My visual memory of birds is quite good, but much less prone to immediate ID, even of birds that are straightforward if I haven't seen them for several years, but again, usually things click into place. However, this has quite frequently led me into impulsive, but convincing, wrong IDs (eg flying fish for Audubon's Shearwater in the brief tropical evening!).
MJB
 
I have been told I can be frustrating to bird with. If I am on any of my local patches, I very rarely slow down to 'see' the birds unless it is something that I am not used to hearing.

I also know that certain birds must be seen in my areas, mockingbirds do a fantastic Belted Kingfisher and Cassin's Kingbird up at HorseThief Canyon. So, it can be dangerous to bird only by sound as I ran afoul (harhar) or Id'ing a Wrentit where they really don't occur. Something totally common elsewhere in the county made me not even question my audio ID until the question occurred later… wonder what it really was!

Away from my patches, I tend to rely on sight a lot more than I do when I know what noises to filter out as expected common residents.
 
I thought that people who start birding later in life tend to be worse at ID by sound. I find many birds by sound and I am always surprised how entirely oblivious to sound other people can be. When I was young, people thought I had incredible eyesight, when all I did was hear what that was flying across. I still wish I was better at it, especially on holiday.
But walking around with a parabolic microphone would be too cumbersome!
 
Personally, and just talking about initial IDs, I reckon I identify 2-3x as many birds by sound as by sight on a typical walk - maybe because most of my daily walks are in wooded areas or scrubby heathland. My most recent "garden tick" was an Oystercatcher - heard whilst working on my laptop in my study! However, as Xeno says, the gear is far too bulky to carry around all the time, and anyway, I'm happy with my "unaided" hearing which works over 360 degrees and is always "on".
 
NNJFB-Rob said:
I also know that certain birds must be seen in my areas, mockingbirds do a fantastic Belted Kingfisher and Cassin's Kingbird ....
Click to expand...
But the Mockingbird I heard singing in Missouri a few years ago - where did it learn to sing a note-perfect Song Thrush song??? :eek!:
 
Nutcracker said:
But the Mockingbird I heard singing in Missouri a few years ago - where did it learn to sing a note-perfect Song Thrush song??? :eek!:
Click to expand...

Maybe a British birder was using playback of a song Thrush accidentally instead of the song they wanted to playback for whatever reason. The Mockingbird learned it and sang it back to mock him;)
 
I used to bird almost entirely by sight and was constantly amazed by the abilities of those who could identify birds by sound. Gradually as the years have gone by I've come to use sound more and more. Written descriptions of calls and songs are fairly difficult to interpret and when I started out in the 70's there were not a great deal of options available for learning calls. Nowadays there are extensive sound libraries online and some very good CDs too which should make the business of learning bird sounds that little bit easier. Having said all that I have to admit that there are still many songs that cause me problems, Blackcap and Garden Warbler for instance and Reed and Sedge. It's probably for that reason that my binoculars will always be a more useful tool for I.D'ing birds than my ears.

James.
 
I have truly terrible eyesight even with glasses. I have become heavily dependent on IDing birds by sound, to the point where I actually birded my local patch the other day without bins, something I've never done before.

I learn bird calls pretty quickly so it's just as well!
 
Whilst visiting the USA as a British Birder you realise how much you rely on audiable identification. On my normal morning walk I probably ID 85% of birds by call.
 
RichardBaatsen said:
Whilst visiting the USA as a British Birder you realise how much you rely on audiable identification. On my normal morning walk I probably ID 85% of birds by call.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. Visited California this winter and was constantly confused and frustrated NOT being able to make a proper ID without seeing well. Back home (in Norway) just staying outdoors, gardening or whatever, I have full control on the birds present within hearing range.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 10 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

D
Why do Leicas have more CA than Swarovski or Zeiss?
3 4 5
Replies
98
Views
5K
Scott98
S
Andrew Whitehouse
Most misidentified birds in your area
2 3 4
Replies
73
Views
6K
hookem2010
hookem2010
Tired
Why do Blue Jays mimic hawks?
Replies
4
Views
2K
KC Foggin
KC Foggin
JRP01
How did this started for all of you? (And my little story of how I got into this amazing hobby)
Replies
12
Views
1K
Patudo
P
Passakorn
How do other alphas compare to the Swarovski EL 8.5x42 and Zeiss Victory 8x25 Combo?
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
Rg548
R

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top