For birders doing a real "big year," if a bird is heard and the song can be correctly identified, it counts as a bird for their list. For me, I'm only counting birds that I visually see. However, bird song can be incredibly helpful in identifying various species, especially in places where I'm somewhat unfamiliar with the common birds, like Murchison, Texas.
3/2/13:
21. Red-breasted Merganser: Temperance River State Park, MN, Lake Superior (I was surprised to see ducks out on Lake Superior this early in the year. They were pretty far out and it took me a good deal of time with my field guide and binocs to identify this partnership).
3/3/13:
22. Herring Gull: Duluth, MN, Harbor Bridge
23. Ring-billed Gull: Duluth, MN, Harbor Bridge
Herring gull (left) and ring-billed gull (right): gulls are one family that I struggle with identification - there are so many different types of gulls that all look so similar! These are the two most common species on Lake Superior - for all I know, there may have been a super rare gull species hanging out on the harbor and I just totally missed it!
24. Mallard Duck: Duluth, MN, Harbor Bridge
25. Common Goldeneye (L?): Two Harbors, MN, Lighthouse Harbor in Lake Superior
3/15/13:
26. Turkey Vulture: Dallas, TX, Circling overhead on the interstate
27. Common Grackle: Athens, TX, Subway parking lot
28. Mourning Dove: Murchison, TX, End of the Pirtle ranch driveway
3/16/13:
29. Northern Cardinal: Murchison, TX, Pirtle ranch, behind tractor shed
I also saw a ton of cardinals in my parents' back yard the next day.
There were cardinals all over the place in Texas, loudly singing there song for everyone to hear.
30. Tufted Titmouse: Murchison, TX, Pirtle ranch, old poultry yard (This one was loudly singing, and the song sounded an awful lot like a black-crested titmouse - if I hadn't finally spotted it, I would have thought that's what it was. But, alas, no black crest. Also, their range is a little further west than I was...)
31. Eastern Phoebe: Murchison, TX, Pirtle ranch, big tree outside front door (Another "singing" bird, although I don't know if anyone would actually describe the eastern phoebe's song as "singing").
32. Yellow-throated Vireo (L): Murchison, TX, Pirtle ranch, goat yard (I was pretty excited about this one - another bird that took me a long time to identify, mostly because of my serious lack of familiarity with the vireo family).
33. Carolina Chickadee: Murchison, TX, Pirtle ranch, big tree outside front door (These look so much like black-capped chickadees that this was another case where the song helped solidify my otherwise tentative identification).
3/17/13:
34. Carolina Wren (L): Murchison, TX, Pirtle ranch, wood pile by the house (I wish I'd gotten a good picture of this bird - it was beautiful and, being a wren, had a beautiful song as well).
35. Great-tailed Grackle: Dallas, TX, telephone wires downtown
36. Northern Mockingbird: McKinney, TX, Pirtle family backyard
37. Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle): McKinney, TX, Pirtle family backyard (First warbler of the year!!)
3/18/13:
38. Red-winged Blackbird: Dallas, TX, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
3/27/13:
39. Golden Eagle (L): Wolf Ridge, flying over the Science Center (Okay, this was amazing. Betsey and I were walking into the science center when we spotted it. We immediately noticed that it looked the wrong size to be a juvenile bald eagle. We checked my field guide and, sure enough, the color pattern perfectly matched that of a golden eagle. There are many skeptics out there who believe that we saw a juvenile bald eagle, but we got a good enough look to confirm that they are, in actuality, just super jealous).
3/30/13:
40. House Finch: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, Peter's front yard
41. European Starling: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, Port Arthur downtown
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