This Audio CD is designed for anyone who wants to learn how to recognize bird songs. It features the sounds of 189 different bird species found in the Midwest and Northeast States.
Each bird song recording is followed by a short description of the sound along with a common mnemonic used to remember it. Many well-known song mnemonics such as "Who cooks for you?" for the Barred Owl and "Poor Sam Peabody" for the White-throated Sparrow are included. Following the song and mnemonic, the source of the sound is revealed. By naming the bird at the end of each track, the listener is allowed to wonder and guess at the nature of the sound. Active listening, similar to what one experiences in the field while searching for an unknown bird song, is a key to engaging the memory process.
One way to use this CD is to enable the "Random Play" or "Shuffle" option on a home CD player, portable stereo, or personal computer. Although it may be frustrating at first, repetition of this "quiz" game will quickly improve recognition skills. Gaining familiarity with these songs will greatly increase any bird watcher's enjoyment and awareness of birds in their natural habitat.
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
Not For Beginner Birders Who Want to Learn Calls, May 19, 2008
By
cstrebelThere are many confusing elements to this disk and almost nothing positive I can say as a semi-beginning birder who wants to identify birds by their calls.
The first major fault is that the bird call comes first and then is followed by an incredibly brief supposed mnemonic device for learning the call. Is the bird call then repeated in a way that would mimic the supposed English language interpretation of the call? No!!
Next, two similar bird calls are compared with each other in each section. I want to learn individual calls and the thought of learning similar but slightly different calls, is mind boggling.
At best, this disk is only for the sophisticated birder (who would BTW be turned off by the supposed English language interpretation of the call) and in no way is helpful for the beginning birder.
I feel cheated that I wasted my money on this. If I could have listened to part of this first, as you can with audio CDs of songs, I would NEVER have bought it.
The CD is very useful, April 28, 2008
By
North MainI love your CD. I have been using it to great effect on the commuter train from Ipswich to Boston every day for the last few weeks. I live about an hour north of Boston and read the newspaper until about Salem or Swampscott. Then it's birds the rest of the trip. I am a graduate of "Birding by Ear" and "More Birding by Ear" so I love the fact that on your CD the songs come first, followed by the identifications. I generally have my CD player set on random shuffle.
I understand that the songs can be heard faintly by the other commuters, though they can't tell where the sound is coming from. I see people looking around from time to time wondering who let the birds on the train. It's quite funny.
Really great guide, especially for beginners, April 7, 2008
By
J. Garvin (Maui, HI)
I'm an ornithologist, and yet I have a hard time learning bird songs. I got this CD as a way to learn them, and found it very useful. It doesn't have all the birds of the Eastern US, but that's helpful because it keeps you from being overwhelmed. Birds are grouped partly by habitat which is also helpful. On some of the tracks, it is hard to tell which is the target bird, and only the main song of the bird is featured. However, the bird isn't identified until after the song is played, allowing you time to figure it out for yourself. The pneumonics for making the abstract noises easy to remember help a lot. I'd recommend this guide to anyone starting to learn bird songs.
Very good CD, August 21, 2007
By
PONYRCR (El Segundo, CA United States)
After many years of bird watching I decided it was high time I learned to bird by ear.
I'm pretty familiar with the limited species that show up in my Southern California yard (House Finches, House Sparrows, Mourning Doves and Western Scrub Jays mostly).
I've purchased a few different CD's on birding by ear (including the Stokes CD's), but this is the one I like the best. I keep it in my CD player in the car so I can learn/study the bird songs while going to and from work each day.
I have noticed a slight regional accent in some of the birds that I'm familiar with, but it's not so significant that I don't recognise the House Sparrow or the House Finch when I hear it.
I highly recommend this CD to anyone who is trying to learn to bird by ear.
Great for newbies, June 7, 2007
By
A. GeistI've lived on a farm or outside the city for most of my life, but never really bothered to figure out the different bird calls. After listening to this CD a couple of times, my wife and I can now pick out some of the different birds. The more calls we learn, the more fun it is to learn more.
