For centuries, Native Americans have relied on so-called “bird language” to learn the whereabouts of people and other animals that would otherwise remain invisible to the human eye
Once you narrow your focus to a species or two—such as a familiar robin or charismatic red cardinal—start paying attention to baseline vocalizations.
“You can get a clue as to whether a bird has found a mate by how much he’s singing,” says Kenn Kaufman, field editor atmagazine and longtime birder. If you have trouble identifying any particular song, check out a digital bird guide like Audubon’sDeciphering companion calls, which mated pairs use to communicate, requires a bit more patience. First, you need to find a couple; Young suggests looking for song sparrows or cardinals.
Learning baseline calls will give you a glimpse into the world of songbirds and all its drama: who’s looking for love, who’s angry with whom, and who’s in a relationship. Once you do, it will be much easier to detect when something is amiss.When birds detect a threat, be it a crash-diving kite or a slithering serpent, they sound the alarm. As naturalists are learning, Durham says, each warning call may encode specific information about the threat—down to the species of predator.
Alarm calls require observation and patience to learn, but Young offers a few tips that quicken the process.
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