New Kids on the Block – Juvenile Vocalizations

We’re firmly planted in the summer-birding-is-underrated camp. Not only does summer birding afford us the pleasure of watching young birds go from nestlings to fledglings to awkward little mini-mes, but it also allows us to investigate and document all those weird and confusing sounds.
 
When young birds leave the nest to take their first crack at life, they just can’t help but constantly exclaim at all the wondrous beauty they encounter… OK, let’s be honest – they’re probably just pestering their hardworking parents: “HEY-YOU-PLEASE-COME-FEED-ME-AND-HURRY-UP-NO-SERIOUSLY-YOU’RE-TAKING-WAY-TOO-LONG-I’M-OVER-HEEEEEERE-DID-I-MENTION-I-AM-HUNGRYYYYYYY??!!!!!!!!“
 
Juvenile birds aren’t subtle when asking for food. We’ve seen a young Snowy Egret grab its parent’s bill and shake it violently as if it to free stuck chips from a vending machine. Though these unrefined New Birds on the Block don’t usually make the sweetest of sounds – what they lack in sophistication, they make up for with fervor.
 
Please feast your ears on these 15 juvenile vocalizations recorded right here in Sonoma County. (Note: The photos accompanying the recordings aren’t always the exact bird from the recording, but many are.)

1. Steller’s Jay

Is someone using a power saw right below our deck? Nope, that’s just a group of young Steller’s Jays shrieking for food.

2. Song Sparrow

Before Song Sparrows become adults and master their confidently delivered, musical song, they go through an adorably awkward learning phase. During the first few months of life, youngsters begin to string together a jumble of random notes. Eventually, these unstructured babbles come together to form the classic Song Sparrow song we dissected in Birding By Ear Lesson #1.

3. Western Kingbird

This radiant Western Kingbird juvenile and a sibling produced a mix of descending, whiny calls and more typical kingbird-sounding “kip“-s.

4. American Robin

This fledgling robin sound perplexed us for weeks. The almost mechanical-sounding “chint… chint-chint… chint” emanated continuously from the redwood understory next to our house, but we never located the source. One day, while walking in Armstrong Redwoods, we came upon the same puzzling sound and thankfully spied the culprit – a baby American Robin!

5. Wilson’s Warbler

A high-pitched “tsip-tsip-tsip” is a fairly generic youngster sound, but we noticed the Willy Warbs fledgling call sometimes accelerates into a quick, descending rattle before beginning again. Listen for this sound low in a riparian corridor or buried within dense blackberry bramble.

6. Black-headed Grosbeak

Last summer, a young Black-headed Grosbeak grew up outside our friends’ house, and persistently gave its simple rising-and-falling, questioning wheeze. Our friend likened it to a child asking “Whyy-yy?” to everything:
 
“Whyy-yy?… Whyyy-yy?… But, whyy-yy can’t I be friends with the cat?”

7. Marsh Wren

Marsh Wren adults can be hard enough to see, so we were elated when we spied this fledgling, still with tufts of feathers on its head. You can hear a feeding occur at 0:04 and 0:28 seconds below.

8. Pacific Wren

Like the previous Marsh Wren juvenile, this wispy-headed baby Pacific Wren looks more like a grumpy old man than a bird. Its extremely high-pitched “tsee” is repeated ad nauseam in the direction of a nearby parent.

9. Pacific-slope Flycatcher

We love this thin, little sound a juvenile Pacific-slope Flycatcher makes. Is it trying to imitate the upward, slurred whistle of an adult? Keep trying, little one – you’ll perfect it!

10. Warbling Vireo

You can really hear the urgency and excitement in this young Warbling Vireo’s voice – listen closely at 0:07 seconds for a feeding. Once fed, however, the juvenile immediately returns to begging as the adult departs to forage for the next meal. It’s amazing how hard adults work to keep their babies alive!

11. Spotted Towhee

Though many juvenile begging calls sound similar, they can have unique elements. This young Spotted Towhee’s call sometimes drops distinctly in pitch. The extra-excited, shorter staccato notes at 0:21 seconds occurred when its parent returned with a bug.

12. Dark-eyed Junco

We’ve observed a few different types of begging calls from young juncos. This buzzy call came from two streaky-chested youngsters following their parent around in the understory.

13. Red-tailed Hawk

The familiar adult Red-tailed Hawk sound (listen to it here) has been used in countless movie scenes. However, juveniles can sound completely different, even when they’re old enough to soar around on their own. In this recording, you can hear that insistent quality common to many juvenile birds.

14. Cooper’s Hawk

There might not be a sweeter sound than baby hawk whines, simply because it means a nest is nearby. And, if you’re really lucky – like we were one day at Foothill Regional Park – you might see two fuzzballs peering over the edge!

15. Caspian Tern

OK, this recording was actually made in Marin County, but we’ve seen Caspian youngins loafing at Bodega Bay as well. We chuckled while watching this juvenile wail repeatedly just inches from a seemingly indifferent adult’s face.

Question:

How many of the juvenile birds can you name from the featured image collage up top? (Note: Not all are from Sonoma County.)