What is the dawn chorus?

N. Sivasothi — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:34:34 GMT

Two easily readable references:

"Bird Squawk: What is the dawn chorus?" BBC Science & Nature homepage. [link]
"Bird Songs," by Gareth Huw Davies. PBS: The Life of Birds by [BBC/]David Attenborough. [link]

The territorial sound of a Magellanic Woodpecker

N. Sivasothi — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 00:25:00 GMT

You may have heard that BBC will be providing videos on Youtube. Well in one such clip added by BBC Worldwide (Feb 2007) - Here David Attenborough imitates the double-tap sound of a Magellanic Woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus) in the Patagonian forests of South America. Watch as he makes a double-knock sound on a resonant tree-trunk. The camera scans the quiet forest, and a reply is heard! The bird approaches to investigate its rival as David watches in fascination.

Watch "Attenborough - Territorial Sound", BBC Worldwide/Youtube.

Magellanic Woodpeckers by Arthur Grosset, Chile, 2005. Courtesy of Mangoverde World Bird Guide.

Woodpeckers are able to cling certically to tree trunks and can drill holes into wood. Their chisel-shaped beaks and a "suspension system" in their skulls allow them to peck with great force but prevents them from getting soft in the head! Links of interest:

Internet Bird Collection - videos of the Magellanic Woodpecker.
The Free Sound Project: Woodpecker.wav - lovely recording of a bird chorus in France (2004) with the sound of a woodpecker emerging clearly from the background.
Tina and Duncan MacDonald's Woodpeckers of the World - photos of 133 species of woodpeckers (there are ore than 200 species in all continents except Australia and Antartica.
"The Hen-pecked Spouse of Our Smallest Woodpecker." By Ong Kiem Sian, 1999. Nature Watch, 7(2).

You can hear the drilling sound of the woodpecker even in Singapore. Here is a photo from Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve that I took in August last year. That familiar sound announced its presence, as it searched for insects on a mangrove tree nearby.

LSM1303 ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR : sound

What is the dawn chorus?

The territorial sound of a Magellanic Woodpecker