It takes energy to sing. So why do most birds spend so much time vocalizing? What are the different functions of songs and calls? Are songs learned or innate? And how do we know? Tom Stephenson, author of The Warbler Guide and several important birding apps, will present an overview of the kinds of vocalizations that birds make, how they are acquired, and how the song-learning process unfolds. He’ll discuss why you might hear very odd songs from common species in early spring, and what that tells us about the singer. Stephenson will also cover the many different kinds of vocalizations one individual bird might make, what they may mean, and discuss species that sing only one song across the US compared with other species that have hundreds of different songs. He’ll explore some strategies to use when we hear a song we don’t recognize and see why traditional field guides aren’t much help. Finally, he’ll discuss general memorization theory and outline a simple and very effective technique for memorizing many bird songs. So, if you’ve ever had any questions about why birds are singing or wanted better ways of learning their songs, this is the lecture for you!
