BirdNote®
Early Spring Songs for Texas (aired on KMBH)
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote!
[Cassin’s Sparrow song, repeated]
In March, we welcome the lengthening days. And as the somber grays and browns of winter give way to the green of south Texas spring, nothing freshens the new season like the renewal of bird song. [Cassin’s Sparrow song, repeated]
This month, three groups of birds tune up their musical voices here.
First, and among the earliest spring singers, are birds that reside in our area year round. [Cassin’s Sparrow song, repeated] One such bird is the Cassin’s Sparrow, whose sweet song floats across the grassland country of south Texas. [Cassin’s Sparrow song, repeated]
Second, we hear the early spring voices of birds that stopped over here for the winter, like the pure, whistled notes of this White-throated Sparrow [White-throated Sparrow song]. The White-throated Sparrow will fly north for the summer to sing and nest in the Canadian boreal forest. [White-throated Sparrow song]
And the third chorus of voices belongs to birds now migrating from farther south, like the Purple Martin. [Purple Martin song] Some martins will stay to nest in south Texas, and others will continue on. [Purple Martin song] Some will migrate far enough north to catch up with those White-throated Sparrows, departed to Canada, making for an unforgettable duet [Purple Martin song and White-throated Sparrow song]
Tune up your ears anytime, when you come to our website, birdnote.org. I’m Frank Corrado.
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Bird audio provided by the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Cassin’s Sparrow song and Purple Martin song recorded by G.A. Keller. White-throated Sparrow song recorded by W.W.H. Gunn.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2008 Tune In to Nature.org
ID# 2008-03-03-spring-04-KMBH
