The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong.DONALD KROODSMA Why do birds sing? Well, mostly to attract females--the crooners are usually male. The choir may be all of one sex, but the repertoire of each member varies greatly. Furthermore, each species has its own songs, and some birds modify that music as well as pick up songs from other species. Kroodsma recounts the example of a brown thrasher that in a 2-hour period sang 1,800 different songs. The author instructs readers on how to listen to a bird's song from the perspectives of both another bird and of a scientist. He explains how birds acquire their songs, what makes songs unique, and how and why the songs differ between locales (programming) locale - A geopolitical place or area, especially in the context of configuring an operating system or application program with its character sets, date and time formats, currency formats etc. Locales are significant for internationalisation and localisation.. Also included is a CD with 98 tracks of birdsongs birdsong. Song, call notes, and certain mechanical sounds constitute the language of birds. Song is produced in the syrinx, whose firm walls are derived from the rings of the trachea, and is modified by the larynx and tongue. The membranes of the syrinx are controlled by slender muscles; in the oscines, or song birds, there may be as many as eight pairs of these muscles, whereas other birds have four or fewer., all of which are explained in an appendix in the book. Another appendix tells readers how to record birdsongs, including details on the equipment needed. Houghton Mifflin, 448 p., b&w illus, CD, hardcover, $28.00. |
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