From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Sun Jun 6 15:13:03 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i56MA2iu010430 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 6 Jun 2004 15:10:03 -0700 (PDT) Received: from hotmail.com (bay4-dav32.bay4.hotmail.com [65.54.171.62]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i56M8fcu010389 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 6 Jun 2004 15:08:42 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Sun, 6 Jun 2004 15:08:41 -0700 Received: from 65.138.96.175 by bay4-dav32.bay4.hotmail.com with DAV; Sun, 06 Jun 2004 22:08:41 +0000 X-Originating-IP: [65.138.96.175] X-Originating-Email: [[[email protected]]] X-Sender: [[email protected]] From: "LINDA ADAMS" <[[email protected]]> To: "Bill Bousman" <[[email protected]]>, <[[email protected]]>, <[[email protected]]>, "Rosalie Lefkowitz" <[[email protected]]> References: <[[email protected]]> <[[email protected]]> Subject: Re: [SBB] Cal Towhee Question Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 15:08:38 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: MSN 8.5 Seal-Send-Time: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 15:08:38 -0700 X-MimeOLE: Produced By MSN MimeOLE V8.50.0017.1202 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 06 Jun 2004 22:08:41.0524 (UTC) FILETIME=[D387EF40:01C44C12] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5b1 Cc: X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5b1 Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by plaidworks.com id i56MA2iu010430 I wish we could combine our experiences and sources and write a book on California Towhee Language. Even the CATO can become very expressive and vocal. When "Towhee" accidently gets locked in the garage (she hides there) she shrieks with full force, and utters the "Chur" that you mention in the quote, in a really deep, hoarse, grating voice. I think it translates to, "Hey! I'm in here!! Don't do that!!!" . . .Maybe I'll just report unusual bird sightings from now on. . . Linda Adams San Martin ----- Original Message ----- From: Rosalie Lefkowitz To: Bill Bousman ; [[email protected]] ; [[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2004 3:33 PM Subject: Re: [SBB] Cal Towhee Question Here's something on the California Towhee from Ralph Hoffman's 1927 book, "Birds of the Pacific States". "The song is a feeble imitation of the Wrentit's fine crescendo performance. It suggests the syllables "tsip tsip tsip tsip, chur, chur, chur", given without much animation, and not freely uttered even in the height of the breeding season." Rosalie Lefkowitz Bill Bousman wrote: > > At 08:47 PM 6/4/04, [[email protected]] wrote: > >Good evening Sbbers..... > > > >For the past three nights the resident California Towhee who normally just > >gives its chink note before retiring is actually singing! I have never > >heard a > >CATO break out into song...Has anyone heard this? Since they nest here at > >the > >house, is this some type of breeding song? > > In my experience, resident birds give a "chink" note at dawn and dusk as > they outline their territories. They also have a greeting call, which is a > sort of a trill as one flies up towards the other. I believe this is what > Linda Adams refers to as their "Nuttall's" call, although to my ear it is > softer and less grating. But Cal. Towhees also have a song. The little > bit I've read suggests that this is given only by unmated males, hence it > is not heard from paired birds. In the Palo Alto area, where I bicycle, I > have found this song quite common through the summer months. I cannot > describe this song very well (a problem I have), but it is quite different > from the greeting trill, although it is largely composed of trills, but > somewhat melodic. > > Bill > > _______________________________________________ > Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. > south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) > Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: > http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/rlefko%40earthlink.net > > This email sent to [[email protected]] _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/ll-rwadams%40msn.com This email sent to [[email protected]] _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]