I ran across this purple martin video from California.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnAYnEl6iOc
It was posted in the spring and doesn't give a more specific location. The martins are nesting or attracted to a telephone pole hole, which is adjacent to a human house. Maybe Dan Airola, martin guru from Sacremento, will see this and can fill us in.
What struck me is the sound. Listen closely to the male full vocalization -- with the "chirup." It just sounds more harsh or "clickish" to me than what I hear, but I've neaver heard a western martin. Do western martins all sound slightly different?
John
Purple martin video from California - different vocal?
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Louise Chambers
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John,
That was really neat—thanks for posting the link. They do sound different, don't they? Still like martins, but not like the eastern ones most of us are familiar with.
The two western subspecies are 'supposed' to sound a bit different, according to those who have studied them, like Bridget Stutchbury. When I was in Arizona on PMCA trip, I can't recall that they sounded very different to me, not as much as the CA martins in that video sound different. I also heard and saw martins nesting in aspen trees once in Colorado, those would be the same subspecies as the CA martins. Again, they still clearly sounded like martins, and I did not notice an obvious difference. This video has the most distinctively different vocalizations I have heard. A bit harsher, I would agree.
Louise
That was really neat—thanks for posting the link. They do sound different, don't they? Still like martins, but not like the eastern ones most of us are familiar with.
The two western subspecies are 'supposed' to sound a bit different, according to those who have studied them, like Bridget Stutchbury. When I was in Arizona on PMCA trip, I can't recall that they sounded very different to me, not as much as the CA martins in that video sound different. I also heard and saw martins nesting in aspen trees once in Colorado, those would be the same subspecies as the CA martins. Again, they still clearly sounded like martins, and I did not notice an obvious difference. This video has the most distinctively different vocalizations I have heard. A bit harsher, I would agree.
Louise
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Daniel Airola
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Guru? Hardly!
The video was taken by Corinna Elwood in Shelter Cove, Humboldt County, California in 2009. This area is where Cori conducted PMCA-sponsored monitoring of a large population that nests in utility poles, snags, and the new set of nest boxes that Stan Kostka installed. This work was reported in the Update v 17, #3, and Vol 18 #2.
I can't comment on song differences between eastern and western birds., having only spent a little time watching martins in the east. The songs in the video sound typical of birds I've worked with in CA, though they sound a little faster and more excited than songs sung under more relaxed circumstances. The martins appear to be contesting over the hole - noted the brief view of the SY male to the right.
The video was taken by Corinna Elwood in Shelter Cove, Humboldt County, California in 2009. This area is where Cori conducted PMCA-sponsored monitoring of a large population that nests in utility poles, snags, and the new set of nest boxes that Stan Kostka installed. This work was reported in the Update v 17, #3, and Vol 18 #2.
I can't comment on song differences between eastern and western birds., having only spent a little time watching martins in the east. The songs in the video sound typical of birds I've worked with in CA, though they sound a little faster and more excited than songs sung under more relaxed circumstances. The martins appear to be contesting over the hole - noted the brief view of the SY male to the right.
Dan Airola - Sacramento CA