Know Your Bird Sounds, Volume 1: Yard, Garden, and City Birds [Paperback]

Lang Elliott (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Lang Elliott Audio Library | Publication Date: February 1, 2004

Each book includes an hour-long CD with sounds for 35+ species

How to identify species by ear with text that provides helpful mnemonics for each sound plus when and how each call or song is used

Information on physical characteristics and life history of each species

These superb collections of field recordings and descriptions offer unparalleled access to the sounds and calls of numerous popular and less well known birds and amphibians. Each book and CD provides an introduction to the sound repertoire of species living in eastern and central North America--a variety of calls from each species are included, along with an in-depth description and explanation of their significance. In addition to color photographs of the most common species, the text offers a fascinating look at the science of avian and amphibian calls, making these guides indispensable aids for the outdoor enthusiast.

Birds covered in this volume: American Robin - Northern Cardinal - Baltimore Oriole - Tufted Titmouse - Black-capped Chickadee - Carolina Chickadee - White-breasted Nuthatch - House Wren - Carolina Wren - Cedar Waxwing - Brown Thrasher - Northern Mockingbird - Blue Jay - American Crow - Chimney Swift - Rock Dove - Mourning Dove - Eastern Screech-Owl - Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Red-bellied Woodpecker - Red-headed Woodpecker - Northern Flicker - Eastern Phoebe - Purple Martin - European Starling - Warbling Vireo - Song Sparrow - Chipping Sparrow - Brown-headed Cowbird - Common Grackle - House Sparrow - House Finch - Purple Finch

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lang Elliott is the owner of NatureSound Studio, a wildlife recording company based in Ithaca, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081172963X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811729635
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous for learning all the sounds of your common birds, February 13, 2005

By 

Laura L. Erickson (Duluth, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Know Your Bird Sounds, Volume 1: Yard, Garden, and City Birds (Paperback)

Lang Elliott, one of the best bird recordists around, has compiled a wonderful collection of virtually all the vocalizations made by 35 species found in eastern North America. This compilation may have a limited number of species covered, but it more than makes up for this in providing so many different calls and songs for each species, and also providing the context in which each vocalization is made. For example, for the American Robin you hear the basic song, the dawn song, the low-grade alarm call, the alarm call given when a raptor flies overhead, and more! Excellent both for learning common bird sounds and for figuring out what the meaning of a particular vocalization is.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for beginners in bird songs/calls, August 7, 2007

By 

Urszula (Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Know Your Bird Sounds, Volume 1: Yard, Garden, and City Birds (Paperback)

As a novice to identifying birds by their songs and calls, I found this CD be exactly what I needed. When buying the item I was really mostly interested in the audio disk. This contains the songs as well as various calls for the common birds in the Eastern Region, and already I'm finding that I'm using the calls I've learned more than the songs to identify birds in my neighbourhood (at least at this time of year). While I initially was concerned that the number of birds the CD covers might be limited, I'm finding that learning even this number of birds is quite challenging for a novice, and a greater number of birds would probably have just confused me at this point. So while not comprehensive in terms of species, it is more detailed for each species, and I can identify most of the birds I encounter quite well. The book contains a photo of each bird and a description of the sounds it makes and when they are made, which is proving surprisingly useful since associating a "pronounciation" of the sounds seems so far an effective aid for learning the calls. Once I master volume 1 and 2, I will probably purchase a more comprehensive collection of songs, but for now I"m more than happy with this.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good beginning and for revisiting, December 9, 2008

By 

C. G. King (Horse Country, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Know Your Bird Sounds, Volume 1: Yard, Garden, and City Birds (Paperback)

One thing that surprised me when I first began identifying birds was the variety of songs one type of bird can have. Most bird CDs and software include a limited track of sound, which generally covers only one or two calls. Both Volume 1 (shown here) & Volume 2 (purchased separately) are very useful since they cover the birds you're most likely to hear in depth. You may have trouble identifying birds by their songs and calls unless you know there are several possibilities for each type. Conversely, you may think you're hearing multiple species when the various songs are all coming from one type. The Carolina Wren, for example, has a whole language of different calls; it's the cadence and volume that give it away.

This CD is great for teaching you not only a variety of sounds for a species, but usually includes the common pneumonic that will help you remember--like 'drink your tea' for the Towhee (Volume 2). This has helped my grandchildren too and they thoroughly enjoy identifying a bird when they hear it.

Now, that said, once you've gotten some experience, you will want to come back to this CD to pick up more information about less common calls so you can understand a bit more about what's going on in your bird community. This CD and Volume 2 are like Rosetta Stone for bird language.