On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1 Viewer)

[Bluetail]

The well-known call of the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus is two notes, the second being three notes below the first (more exactly, the interval musicians call the minor third: apologies to non-musicians, but it's the only way I can specify the exact interval).

Very early yesterday morning I heard my first Cuckoo of the year. It was calling fairly strongly, though only intermittently, and the interval was wider - the second note was four notes below than the first (not far short of a perfect fourth). Also the first note was up-slurred, i.e. it rose in pitch slightly at the end. I have heard wider intervals than the norm many times before and have heard tell of one bird singing an exceptionally wide one (an augmented fourth).

Later in the morning this particular Cuckoo reverted to the typical interval of a third. I wondered why should it do that.

One possibility occurred to me, but it's pure guesswork. Maybe the interval between the two notes depends on how hard the bird is calling. If human singers "push" a note too hard it is apt to rise (to go "sharp"). A similar factor might explain the rise at the end of the Cuckoo's first note. Maybe as the day grew and birdsong generally tailed off, the Cuckoo felt less urgent and the interval between his two notes narrowed. To me it seems possible, but it's only a theory.

Has anyone else ever noted anything similar?

 

[Edward]

Sorry Jason, I don't get a chance to hear Cuckoos too often for obvious reasons so can't answer your question, but are you a fan of Frederick Delius by any chance?

E

 

[deboo]

Jason,

Maybe he had a frog in his throat?

Dave.

 

[Bluetail]

...are you a fan of Frederick Delius by any chance?

I don't mind him, but I wouldn't go out of my way to hear his music. For lush harmony I prefer either the French composers from Debussy onwards or Englishmen like Howells.

 

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Jason,

Perhaps a first-summer bird that didn't know how to do it properly? - maybe it heard a second more experienced bird on an adjoining territory later, and adapted the song to copy it more accurately

I don't know for Cuckoos, but there is evidence for some other birds that song is partly innate, but perfecting the song is done by listening to conspecifics and copying them.

Michael

 

[Bluetail]

Hi Michael. Thanks for the suggestion. If it's a first-summer bird I'm not sure where it would have got the opportunity to hear others. In most years there are a few Cuckoos in this general area, but this was the only one calling there last Sunday. So I'm still not sure how to explain the change between early morning and late morning.

 

[robinm]

I hear a number every year I can only recall only ever hearing them sing a minor third although at varying pitches. I shall listen closely from now on.

 

[Bluetail]

Hi Robin. The bird with the augmented fourth was heard by a musical friend of mine in Kent - though about 30 years ago!

 

[robinm]

Interestingly the bird on the Birdforum bird song sings a whole tone.

 

[Bluetail]

So it does! And the first bird on my Roché CD seems to be singing a rather wide major third, or maybe a fourth, but the first note is so up-slurred it's hard to tell - the bird sounds even more excited than the one I heard on Sunday.

 

[Adey Baker]

Has anyone noted whether they all sing in the same key - or at least pitch the first note the same?

Presumably, the size of the voice box (or whatever sound-making organ they have) would determine this?

 

[Bluetail]

Has anyone noted whether they all sing in the same key - or at least pitch the first note the same?

Yeah, I was wondering whether it's the first note that varies or the last. The birds on the Roché CD do all start on the same note (assuming the pitch hasn't been doctored) and the one on BF seems to do too.

Presumably, the size of the voice box (or whatever sound-making organ they have) would determine this?

In humans I think it's the number of vibrations we put on our vocal chords that determines the note we sing; and, of course, we have a choice in the matter. I would have thought birds that produce their voices in the same way, but, to be frank, I've no idea really.

 

[robinm]

Continuing the analogy with humans. We all have different singing voices (bass, baritone, tenor) and each person has a different part of their vocal range which produces the most powerful notes and which is most comfortable. This also changes with age - as I have noticed since my top C has gone. It seems possible that birds could be the same. Sounds like a fun topic for a research project!

On the other point the bird on the Birdguides CD starts on a different note to the BF one.

 

[Adey Baker]

Sounds like a fun topic for a research project!

It would also be fascinating to know whether birds that are well-known 'mimics' can pitch the notes to their hosts' range or whether they have to stay within their own 'natural' voice - or am I getting a bit carried away, here!

 

[Bluetail]

It would also be fascinating to know whether birds that are well-known 'mimics' can pitch the notes to their hosts' range or whether they have to stay within their own 'natural' voice - or am I getting a bit carried away, here!

No, it's a good question. Conceivably they might tend to, though I'd imagine that the physiology of any bird's voice box would limit what was possible in that respect. For example, I doubt whether a Starling would be physically capable of sounding like a booming Bittern!

 

[JP Marsh Warbler]

Fascinating observation.
Do all cuckoo's call in the same key and if so what is it?
Is there anything in the natural world that has a constant pitch and is audible?
As the cuckoo is not raised by its parents, it's call must be innate. I wonder, therefore, what degree of complexity can genetically transmitted vocalisations achieve?
The cuckoo is perhaps unique in the animal kingdom, in that it is not raised by its parents. This makes differentiating learned from innate vocalisations relatively straightforward.

 

[Farnboro John]

Fascinating observation.
Do all cuckoo's call in the same key and if so what is it?
Is there anything in the natural world that has a constant pitch and is audible?
As the cuckoo is not raised by its parents, it's call must be innate. I wonder, therefore, what degree of complexity can genetically transmitted vocalisations achieve?
The cuckoo is perhaps unique in the animal kingdom, in that it is not raised by its parents. This makes differentiating learned from innate vocalisations relatively straightforward.

Many species that subsequently vocalise are not raised by their parents. An awful lot of frogs and toads, for a start.

I don't think the cuckoo is as unusual as you suggest.

John

 

[JP Marsh Warbler]

Many species that subsequently vocalise are not raised by their parents. An awful lot of frogs and toads, for a start.

I don't think the cuckoo is as unusual as you suggest.

John

 

[JP Marsh Warbler]

Amphibians aren't raised by another species. Moreover, some species vocalise en masse, so juveniles would have the opportunity to learn or mimic the calls.

 

[JP Marsh Warbler]

I do however suspect that amphibian vocalisations are in fact innate. But, like the cuckoo, they are very simple calls. The question being, what degree of complexity can innate vocalisation attain?