Song ID please- willow warbler? - Belgium today (1 Viewer)

[Wallander]

What do you make of these recorded songs? Same bird 3x. Just a willow warbler with strange accent?

Many thanks in advance!!!! 🍻 🙏

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Wallander,

I agree with you, its a strange Willow Warbler for me too.

And it sounds good for an example of a Willow Warbler x Chiffchaff mixed singer. According to literature, they are (usually) no "real" hybrids, but birds that adds phrases from the other species to their song (they might have heard them during the sensitive learning phase.

According to a comment from Andreas Ranner these are normally Willow Warblers. I think I heard this elsewhere too.
Excellent recording! Tfs!

Willow Warblers, 'mixed singers', West Midlands

Willow Warbler - Mixed singer Willow/Chiffchaff (XC237179) :: topic 11366 :: xeno-canto

xeno-canto.org

Club300 Germany (yes, in german. But its excellent)
Club300 Germany (yes, in german. But its excellent)
http://www.otus-bayern.de/hefte/Otus_3_11_Iberienzilpzalp_opt.pdf (yes, in german. But its excellent)
https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/EGRETTA_29_1_2_0031-0036.pdf (yes, in german. But its excellent)
Zilpzalp-Fitis-Mischsänger - bird.at - forum (yes, ...)
Club300 Germany (yes ...)

Yes, this post came out more confident than it was intended to be. But my feeling is that your bird starts with a bad copy of a Chiffchaff song and ends with a Willow Warbler like one.

I hope for more comments. Thanks! And Tfs again!

 

[foresttwitcher]

I tend to agree - Willow Warbler but 'mixed singer'.

 

[Butty]

I tend to think I'd like the recordings to be at least three times as long, then I might just be able to start getting a handle on what they are. Was it really only possible to get recordings lasting 2-4 sec?

 

[Wallander]

I tend to think I'd like the recordings to be at least three times as long, then I might just be able to start getting a handle on what they are. Was it really only possible to get recordings lasting 2-4 sec?

The bird made this song "cylce" 1 time every 2/3 minutes so.....a longer recording won't be an added value. Therefore I just cutted the "song" part out the longer recordings.

 

[Mark Lew1s]

A longer recording does add value as it gives the listener's ear/brain a chance to really prepare, and digest what it's hearing. A couple of seconds of 'dead air' before the actual sound of interest make things much easier to interpret.

 

[Butty]

A longer recording does add value as... [etc]

Yes, yes, yes - absolutely. Well put 👍🏻
A moment of nothing at start and finish also...

• Demonstrates that we really are hearing the full vocalization and not just a random snippet cropped out from the middle somewhere (which certainly in this case it does sound like).
• Saves people from posting posts that say, effectively: 'What happened to the rest of it?'.

This gripe about very short recordings is made repeatedly in these columns, and I'm sure that posters do genuinely feel they're being helpful by editing out everything except the 'meaty bit' - but, really, they are not ☹️

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Wallander,
no offence you know.

I totally agree with Butty and Mark : ... I'm sure that posters do genuinely feel they're being helpful by editing out everything except the 'meaty bit' ..."

and more:
I often struggle to identify sounds here on BF, or birds come into my mind, that are quite different when I hear them in the field. I still search for reasons, maybe some of them are mentioned here? I will check this. Thanks Butty and Mark!

Thats not the case here: Two-notes sound ID. N.Sweden Although I see and heard many Siskins now and especially in recent years I was surprised that I cant remember this call. And it took me many days last winter to hear a Siskin call like that. Reason why I missed/overheard it before? Dont know, maybe because they often call in flocks? Anyway, a big thanks to all in this thread.

(and after looking at a few Tree Pipits again: why is Tree vs Meadow Pipit ID some kind of jizz/gut/overall colouration thing in the field, while it is often a scrutinization of fine and variable details here on BF?)

And sorry for some kind of off-topic post, but this came into my mind again.

 

[njlarsen]

(and after looking at a few Tree Pipits again: why is Tree vs Meadow Pipit ID some kind of jizz/gut/overall colouration thing in the field, while it is often a scrutinization of fine and variable details here on BF?)

Possibly because in the field, you are looking at a moving target that does not allow you to see all the little details, while here you are looking at stationary items (photos!) that do not allow for the movement part of the jizz but lends themselves to the detail scrutiny?
Niels

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Niels,

thanks for your interesting comment and thoughts! And to Jörn and Lou too! Surely is at least partly the answer.

https://flic.kr/p/27amutD

(04.05.2018, Prenzlau, NE-Germany )

https://flic.kr/p/Kt4N9j

(19.05.2018, Röpersdorf, NE-Germany )

https://flic.kr/p/HdQMNV

(05.05.2018, Prenzlau, NE-Germany )