Songs and calls, Warsaw (Poland), today (1 Viewer)

[01101001]

Habitat: tall grass and herbage, bushes, scattered trees, ditch, river

1) Here are two clips identified as a singing Whinchat by Merlin, and, while I'd be inclined to believe it given the clips are pretty long (and the original was even longer), I'd prefer to tick it when I'm able to better tell it from Stonechat. Despite some effort, I wasn't able to see any Whinchats there, only a Stonechat. I did watch BTO's ID video about chats (Whinchat: short bursts of song, long pauses, mimicry), and I even heard a Stonechat sing earlier today, but I'd still be happy to hear your advice for seperating the two.

2) This is what Merlin identified as Tawny Pipit (an uncommon migrant/breeder in Poland). If it's indeed it, could you please tell me whether the squeaky whistle at the very beginning is a part of its song or a different species altogether (Merlin started hearing Tawny Pipit only from around 0:16).

3) I enjoyed some great views of a singing Wryneck, and it also appeared to be the bird responsible for emitting series of thin tinkling sounds. They sounded pretty close to what Merlin describes as 'juvenile calls': ML356480091 Eurasian Wryneck Macaulay Library. So, is it possible that these 'juvenile calls' are also made by adults (as would be the case here)? I could've made a better recording, but my battery went down; anyway, I think managed to record these calls earlier on (hopefully it's the same thing). I believe that, eventually, it strung together more than 3-4 such tinkles.

4) I don't post queries about every single sound I can't ID, but these flat, slightly wavy whistles appear interesting to me because they lasted for so long and because Merlin hasn't a clue, nor do I. Slightly similar to a Nightingale/Willow Tit/Willow Warbler, but not quite. I'd normally ask BirdNET's website for suggestions, but it's consistently failed to load for a few days now, on different devices, in different networks and browsers.

 

[01101001]

Ad 2) I think I ought to forget about anything happening before 0:16. I've further trimmed and normalised the recording, which now lasts 10 seconds.

The last two calls match up pretty well with the flight call: ML203693571 Tawny Pipit Macaulay Library, but sounds similar to the flight calls (except a bit quieter) seem to appear twice before (between 0:00 and 0:06). Tawny Pipit's songs are many and varied (from what I've seen in Macaulay Library and XC), so could there be 6 seconds of song/flight song here (= breeding), or are there just flight calls (= migrant)?

Tawny Pipit songs often seem to have an L-shaped buzzy sound at the end of the phrase. The most similar cases I've managed to find are below:

XC105561 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)

perched

xeno-canto.org

XC184585 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)

xeno-canto.org

XC641604 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)

Sings from the ground.

xeno-canto.org

Would it be the one circled in red or is it to thin (or maybe the first six seconds are continued Whinchat mimicry)?

Ad 3) I think juvenile Wrynecks emit even more of these tinkles together, one after another, and they look different in the sonogram. Here's a similar adult's call from XC: XC714475 Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla).

Ad 4) Also sounds a but like this, but I sincerely doubt it's it: XC733762 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris).

 

[Butty]

I see a lot of straws being clutched at here. Far & away the best time to put effort into identifying birds' sounds is in the field, with binoculars, by visually identifying the birds. If one comes back from the field with a whole load of recordings of tricky sounds whose sources haven't been firmly visually identified in the field, what one has is a whole load of recordings that really aren't (and can't ever be) much use for anything at all. No offence.

 

[CARERY]

First of all, keep on sound recording it's fascinating. But you should at least try to hold your device put. Don't move while recording (just place it on a tripod or a fence post or even your flat hand) and try to protect it against wind.

I (mainly) hear two species, Tawny Pipit not among them: Common Whitethroat (song and exitement calls) and Whinchat (song). Don't trust Merlin/BirdNet too much with such (rather crappy - no offence) recordings. The two calls you picked as possible Tawny Pipit are too soft for this species and might even be imitations of whatever from the Whinchat singing.

 

[01101001]

I see a lot of straws being clutched at here. Far & away the best time to put effort into identifying birds' sounds is in the field, with binoculars, by visually identifying the birds. If one comes back from the field with a whole load of recordings of tricky sounds whose sources haven't been firmly visually identified in the field, what one has is a whole load of recordings that really aren't (and can't ever be) much use for anything at all. No offence.

I don't usually do that because I'm too lazy myself. I prefer to use the apps as a way to learn calls I can't ID (and then check them against the model sounds), or draw my attention to commoner species I fail to pick out by the ear.

EDIT: I thought the call fitted the pattern of a flyover: first some barely audible background noise, then a loud call, then a quieter call. Thank you for your answers.

 

[Butty]

I don't usually do that because I'm too lazy myself.

I recognise the issue - and I definitely sympathise! But I really think that it means you're making a whole bag of trouble for yourself in both the short and longer terms. I hope you'll take it as well-meant advice that's intended to benefit you... but with your level of experience I fear you are trying too hard to drag too much out of too little - and with insufficient background knowledge to temper your conclusions.

Don't trust Merlin/BirdNet too much with such (rather crappy - no offence) recordings.

Very much agree.
Hoping to identify difficult sounds, long after the event, by using AI (or, often, even by asking advice from experienced birders) is at best liable to achieve nothing for you and at worst may grossly mislead you.
Technology, and databases of recordings, are marvelously useful - but, in learning bird sounds, there truly is no substitute for time spent in the field actually identifying the birds yourself.

 

[01101001]

but with your level of experience I fear you are trying too hard to drag too much out of too little

Yes, I know.

Thank you for this additional advice.

 

[cafe birder]

There is what sounds like a Common Rosefinch at the start of the tawny pipit labelled call. Often transcribed as "pleased to see you" ie 4 notes this can often be shortened by some birds

 

[01101001]

I think I'm entitled to one last bump here, the question being: does this recording contain a Tawny Pipit flyover at the end? @kuzeycem @Val35 @Hotspur

 

[Val35]

I think I'm entitled to one last bump here, the question being: does this recording contain a Tawny Pipit flyover at the end? @kuzeycem @Val35 @Hotspur

Not sure to be honest...I find it maybe a little too "sparrow like" for Tawny Pipit but can't rule it out completely either.

 

[01101001]

Thanks for flagging up potential confusion species for me to consider.

 

[01101001]

After some reading and much thinking, I think I've found a way to handle such queries. At Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris) :: xeno-canto I can see all Tawny Pipit flight calls recorded when the bird wasn't seen, i.e. identified based on the recording alone. There I've found several examples of calls having the same structure as mine (the one around 0:06) recorded by different users (EDIT: mostly on page 2). The shape I mean is best illustrated here: Part 2: Put it all together and what have you got? - The Sound Approach.

Assuming the flight call was given by a Tawny Pipit, after reading a couple of descriptions of the sound and some consideration, I'd describe it as a clean, nasal, penetrating, somewhat drawn-out 'piaou'. This is subjective.

 

[01101001]

One more thing, the sources I consulted didn't mention that a call of (White-bellied) Barn Swallow can be similar as well (and not so slurred as most House Sparrow calls tend to be). However, it is still seperable from Tawny Pipit's: the hill has its left, not right as above, slope doubled, the crown is more neatly rounded as opposed to the rugged crag at the top of a Tawny Pipit's flight call, and both of the slopes are roughly equally steep (as opposed to the right one being less abrupt). Both sounds span roughly the same frequency range.

EDIT: A call of Western Yellow Wagtail (flava), which was mentioned in one source, has a gap in the middle (two syllables) and lacks a duplicated slope.

 

[01101001]

After participating in another thread, I feel compelled to shore up my case. All excerpts in the collage below were taken from recordings containing only this type of call and not others (with the possible exception of background noise, which shows as much quieter than the main sound/sounds) so as to be sure on the basis of which sound it was identified by the recordist (no birds were seen): XC400027 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris), XC789539 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris), XC795080 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris), XC733761 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris), XC535877 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris) (sounds a bit burry--maybe because it was taken so close to the bird?--but the shape is all right), XC535876 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris) (with the background noise a bit stronger), XC535867 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris), XC745925 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris). I omitted a few otherwise similar recordings that showed a double slope on the right that was appreciably shorter than in my recording, which is best illustrated here: XC733763 Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris). There was also one duplicate in the database. Some of the pictures had to be resized a bit. The last one is mine. (I think Creative Commons — Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 allows me to post the compilation here.)

Owing to none of the birds being seen, compare with Part 2: Put it all together and what have you got? - The Sound Approach for additional reference. It is much wider due to the dimensions of the sonogram; the sonogram of my recording in Merlin also appears wider, which you can see below. The call I analysed above is the one in the middle. The last flight call probably belongs to the Tawny Pipit as well, while the first one might have been made either by the Tawny Pipit or by another species mimicking it (I started considering the latter possibility after a suggestion upthread).

EDIT: Apparently, in eBird it's possible to flag up your own media for review.

 

[Mark Lew1s]

You know, you learn just as much whether you tick the bird or not. Everything you’ve done here will become very valuable next time you have to deal with something similar. Becoming a better birder is not about what makes it into your lists.

 

[Essex Tern]

Videoing birds singing is probably more valuable than just going for the sounds alone.