Birding By Ear Lesson #2: Song Comparison of American Robin, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Western Tanager

In this second Birding By Ear lesson, we’ll break down three easily confused songs heard during spring and summer – the songs of the American Robin, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Western Tanager.
 
All three of these passerines perform songs consisting of ascending and descending whistled notes (aka syllables). Because these songs often emanate from a bird well-hidden high in a tree, it can be difficult to identify the songster.

American Robin

Let’s start with the American Robin. The American Robin sings clear, whistled, rising and falling notes with pauses between each syllable. These whistled notes have a simple but musical quality, and the steady pauses between each whistle create a consistent and rhythmic tempo.
 
Although each note rises and falls, the range of pitch is fairly limited. On a spectrogram, you can see each note stays between 2 – 4 kHz (scale on the left). This creates a relaxed tune, without extreme pitch fluctuations.

Here’s another example. Listen again for the clear and musical syllables, the unhurried rhythm, and the limited range of pitch.

In both examples above, you can hear an occasional odd-sounding syllable. These odd-notes have a completely different tone from the clear whistles – sounding instead, wispy or wheezy (more akin to the myriad of call notes of an American Robin).
 
Above, in the first spectrogram, listen for examples of these different-sounding notes around 0:17, 0:22, 0:27, and 0:38 seconds. In the second spectrogram, listen around 0:05, 0:12, 0:26, and 0:37 seconds.
 
To recap, in order to identify an American Robin song, listen for:

• A clear and musical quality;
• A relaxed and steady rhythm;
• A generally limited amount of pitch fluctuation; and
• Any different-sounding, wispy or wheezy notes.

Black-headed Grosbeak

The Black-headed Grosbeak sings a tune full of pure and sweet, quickly ascending and descending whistles, separated by quick, variable pauses. Each note occupies a greater pitch range than the American Robin, which creates a more operatic and lively feel. The quickness and slight irregularity of the pauses between each note results in an energetic, almost rushed pace as the song slides, climbs, and tumbles along.
 
Notice the wide range of pitch in this operatic rendition (1.5 – 6 kHz).

In this second example, listen for the rich, pure tones and lively, energetic pace.

To recap, in order to identify a Black-headed Grosbeak song, listen for:

• A sweet quality to the rapidly rising and falling syllables;
• An energetic, rushed pace; and
• A more operatic and lively vibe due to wider range of pitch.

Western Tanager

Compared to the American Robin and Black-headed Grosbeak, the Western Tanager’s tonal quality is the most distinctive element of its song. Each whistled, quickly rising and falling note is less musical, with a harsh or hoarse tone. The overall range of pitch in a Western Tanager song is limited (like an American Robin); however, from syllable to syllable there is less melodic variation, resulting in a more monotonous feel. The pacing between each note varies from song to song. A song’s pace can be spaced out and relaxed, or it can be faster (like a Black-headed Grosbeak) like in this example below.

Western Tanagers often add their distinct “pit-r-ick” or “pit-ick” call note either within or between song renditions. Listening for this call note can be a great clue to help identify the songster.
 
In this second example, the pacing is quite slow with almost a full second of space between each burry note. The note range is very limited and repetitive, sounding less musical. This individual also adds in several “pit-r-ick” call notes – listen at 0:01, 0:10, 0:15 and 0:28 seconds.

To recap, in order to identify a Western Tanager song, listen for:

• A rough or hoarse quality;
• Limited pitch fluctuation and less variability of syllables; and
• A “pit-ick” or “pit-r-ick” call note occasionally thrown in.

Putting It All Together

When visually identifying a bird, it’s good practice to rely on multiple clues or field marks. Similarly, it’s helpful to consider multiple attributes of a bird’s song when listening to it.
 
The next time you hear a whistled tune from a hidden passerine high in a tree – focus on the following features to help identify the songster: