[Kalamazoo Ken]

Every spring I find myself admiring those of you who can identify an unseen warbler simply by hearing it sing. Recently, realizing I needed a refresher course on these songs, I wrote down the following descriptions of 40 species' unique vocalizations from Sibley's field guide for Eastern North America. I thought it might be fun for some of you to see if you can identify the following "Parulidae" simply from Sibley's description of their song: [Three notes: First, some of these would be real rarities in my area, but they're in the guide, so they're in the quiz. Second, I suppose this is hardly fair for all you Brits and other non-North-Americans, but some of you will probably do better than I would! And third, this in NOT an "open book" test!!]

1. A fast trill of fairly flat notes; last few notes usually lower
2. A high, fine, buzzy zeee zaa-zaa-zaa
3. A rising buzz with a sharp final note: zeeeeeeeeee-tsup, or zo zo zid zid zid zeeeee tsup
4. Begins with two or three clear slurred seeeew notes followed by a series of jumbled descending chips and chirps
5. Clear and musical with an emphatic ending: witew witew witew WEECHEW
6. A series of short, level buzzes: zee zee zee zee zo zeet, or zoooo zeeee zo zo zeet
7. A musical, two-part trill of fairly slow, simple notes: seeta seeta seeta seeta pli pli pli pli
8. Short and musical, but rather weak and simple, sounding like "sweeter sweeter SWEETEST"
9. High and thin with four to seven unslurred notes: seet seet seet seet seet; also a lower and faster seeo seeo seeo seeo seeo seeo
10. A rather harsh, buzzy beee-BZZZZZZ, sounding like a deep sigh
11. A lazy, drawling, husky but musical buzz: zheeew zheeew zheeeee, or zo zo zo zo zeeeeeee
12. A three-part, high, musical rising buzz: tzeedl tzeedl tzeedl ti ti ti treeeeee
13. A three-part trill of sharp, high chips: tip tip tip tip teepit teepit teepit ti ti ti ti ti
14. A series of short, level buzzes: zrr zooo zeedl zeeee twip; or, zeedl zeedl zeedl zeedl zweeee tsip; slightly lower and harsher than Black-throated Green.
15. Consists of sweet, high, clear, sharply slurred notes: swee swee swee ti ti ti swee ; many variations of phrasing, some with an emphatic weechew ending similar to [another] Warbler
16. A rapid series of very high notes on one pitch, distinctly louder in middle than at beginning or end
17. A rather flat, soft warble: sidl sidl sidl sidl seedl seedl seedl seedl seel; usually fading at end
18. Extremely varied; mostly simple notes given singly or up to 10 times in a measured and slowing series with a long pause between each series; includes low liquid whistles or harsh rasping notes and other variations: toop-toop-toop-toop-toop toop toop, toop; chook; terp; jedek; chrrr chrrr chrrr chrrr ...
19. A gently, rhythmic, musical whistle in repeated three- to five-syllable phrases: wichety wichety wichety and many variations
20. A rather weak, buzzy, uneven trill: zzizzizzizzizzizzizzizzi; pulses slightly in pitch and volume
21. Consists of several very high phrases with weakly defined syllables: se-seew se-seew se-seew, or teete teete tee tee tee
22. A simple series of clear, steadily descending whistles, with one or two rising notes at end: teedl teedl teedl teedl teedl teedl teew teew twee
23. A series of high, thin, two-syllable phrases with five to ten repetitions (more than similar species): weesa weesa weesa weesa weetee weetee weetee
24. A series of four or five high and rather strong notes, often with an emphatic ending: tsee tsee tsee tsee tzirr, or tseeta tseeta tseeta tseet, or tseeo tseeo tseeo tseeo; often alternates two song variations
25. Consists of strong, clear, slurred notes: seew seew seee SISTerville; begins like [one of the] Waterthrush and ends like [another] Warbler
26. A series of high, metallic, rising notes: tsweet tsweet tsweet tsweet tsweet
27. A series of high, thin buzzes: zeee zeee zeee zeee zeee zeee zeee zeee; rising steadily in pitch
28. A short series of slurred musical notes with an emphatic ending: tawee tawee tawee-teeoo, or tew tew tew teew teo twee tweee teew
29. A rapid trill of simple whistled notes reminiscent of Chipping Sparrow, but more musical and shorter
30. Has sharp, dry quality, and some extremely high, thin notes: tsik tsik tsi tsi tsi ti-ti-ti-ti-ti tseeeeeee, or tseekut tseekut tseekut tseee
31. A rapid buzz or trill; usually faster and more insect-like than Chipping Sparrow
32. A repeated chanting phrase: churee churee churee turi turi, with low, rich quality; last phrases lower, weaker and shorter
33. A relatively low, rich emphatic flip lip lip-lip-tiptip-CHIDIP rising in pitch and intensity
34. A series of clear, chirping, four-syllable phrases: tup-a-teepo tup-a-teepo tupateepo-tupateepo with unique accelerating tempo.
35. A rolling chant: prrreet prrreet prrreet prrreet prrreet prrreet; similar to Ovenbird and Carolina Wren, but with rich quality and steady rolling tempo and without clearly defined syllables
36. A series of loud, emphatic, chirping notes, loosely paired or tripled, and generally falling in pitch and accelerating
37. A rapid series of 10 to 15 short whistled notes: chchchchchchchchchchtetete with a sharp chattery quality; last few notes generally lower and faster
38. Similar to Mourning, but averages higher and more buzzy
39. A series of explosive, two-syllable phrases, increasing in volume: chertee chertee cherTEE cherTEE CHERTEE CHERTEE! CHERTEE!!
40. A sputtery descending jumble of high, clear, liquid notes mixed with sharp chips

If you want to private message me with your answers, rather than post them right away (so other folks can have a go too), you can do so. I'm going out of town on Saturday for a long weekend, and won't be back to check on things till Wednesday. Answers will be posted in a week, OK?

[Kalamazoo Ken]

Well, it looks like this quiz didn't generate much interest. Was it too long? Too hard? Too easy? Too...? I welcome comments.
Anyway, if anyone cares to know, here are the answers:
1. Orange-crowned
2. Golden-winged
3. Northern Parula
4. Louisiana Waterthrush
5. Chestnut-sided
6. Black-throated Green
7. Nashville
8. Magnolia
9. Cape May
10. Blue-winged
11. Black-throated Blue
12. Cerulean
13. Tennessee
14. Golden-cheeked
15. Yellow
16. Blackpoll
17. Yellow-rumped
18. Yellow-breasted Chat
19. Common Yellowthroat
20. Palm
21. Bay-breasted
22. Yellow-throated
23. Black-and-white
24. American Redstart
25. Swainson's
26. Prothonotary
27. Prairie
28. Hooded
29. Pine
30. Blackburnian
31. Worm-eating
32. Mourning
33. Kirtland's
34. Connecticut
35. Kentucky
36. Northern Waterthrush
37. Wilson's
38. MacGillivray's
39. Ovenbird
40. Canada

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Ken,

For me at least - I've only been to the US in autumn, when they're not singing, so I didn't know any of them. Could've looked up easily enough in Sibley, but that wasn't permitted

Michael

[Kalamazoo Ken]

Thanks for the reply Michael. I knew it could be tough for you guys over there. Maybe I should have allowed use of a field guide other than Sibley's for non-U.S. residents. It's been quite fascinating to me to compare the various verbal descriptions in the five or so different guides I have. I like Sibley the best, as he gives not only a fairly detailed rendition of th esong, but also includes info on call and flight notes.