I like birds. What can I say?

All birds were recorded by me in the United States' beautiful Pacific Northwest state of Washington.

Avian Voices

Brewer's Sparrow, Spizella breweri, is a highly abundant Sagebrush steppe bird of North America, yet it's more likely heard than seen. Tiny and well-matched for hiding the bunches it calls home, they are just as comfortable clambering through Sagebrush like rodents as they are fluttering from one low bush to another. I had my first encounter with in a high subalpine Sagebrush meadow in the Okanogan Mountains last week.

Their mirthful, playful, bubbling voices are a joy and a delight to encounter. The song seems to tumble uncontrollably out of their mouths as they teeter back-and-forth on the swaying tips of sage stalks or other thin vegetation. In fact, the sheer effort of the song seems to prevent them from sitting still, and their heads twist and turn with every phrase. 

This performance is actually several male Brewer's Sparrows singing or counter-singing to one another. I've clean-processed the recording for clarity as there was some swing-distortion and multiple distances involved, but the integrity of the performances are left as-is. 

The idea of cleaning and processing birdsong is controversial in some circles as it "removes the bird from the environment it sings in". I agree with that sentiment, but I also record lots of soundscapes which showcase just that voice-environment relationship. I want to highlight the song itself and present it as clearly and intelligibly as possible while still maintaining the integrity of the bird's voice itself. Consider this a love note to the bird's voice, not the bushes and meadows.

Also, I sell and use sound effects. Sound designers in a hurry much more prefer something they can drop-in and use than anything they'll need to clean themselves. Oh yeah, feel free to message directly in SoundCloud or click on one of my too-many social media buttons to contact me if you'd like to learn more. Happy Listening!

Read more about Brewer's Sparrows at All About Birds:
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brewers_Sparrow/

image credit: "873 - BREWER'S SPARROW (11-8-2018) socorro co, nm -08" by Sloalan is marked with CC0 1.0

Northwest Birds

Brewer's Sparrow Performance

The Willow Flycatcher, Empidonax traillii, looks as most Tyrant Flycatchers do: challenging, daring you to identify it. The Tyrant Flycatchers all bear a striking resemblance to one another, with some species being almost impossible to discern until they open their beaks to sing. Their buzzy, sharp, staccato syllables are as key to correctly identifying one as the bright patterns and colorations on more vibrant birds.
Unlike most songbirds, Flycatchers don't learn their songs from their parents, but are born knowing it. Willow Flycatchers play a key role in testing this as researchers raised chicks from hatchling hearing only the songs of other Flycatchers, yet as they matured they knew and sang the Willow Flycatcher fitz-pew as if they'd never heard anything else.

Read more about Willow Flycatchers at All About Birds: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Willow_Flycatcher/

If you'd like to hear more or license bird sounds for your project, feel free to message me directly in SoundCloud or click on one of my too-many social media buttons. Happy Listening!

Image Credit "578 - WILLOW FLYCATCHER (6-4-08) carrizo, saucito ranch lower spring, carrizo plain nat mon, slo co, ca" by Sloalan is marked with CC0 1.0

Willow Flycatcher

I don't often share the process I go through in prepping bird recordings for licensing and presentation, so I thought I'd share an A-B demonstration. In rapid-fire succession here are a number of Willow Flycatcher song clips, each immediately followed by the original.

The Willow Flycatcher, Empidonax traillii, looks as most Tyrant Flycatchers do: challenging, daring you to identify it. The Tyrant Flycatchers all bear a striking resemblance to one another, with some species being almost impossible to discern until they open their beaks to sing. Their buzzy, sharp, staccato syllables are as key to correctly identifying one as the bright patterns and colorations on more vibrant birds.

Unlike most songbirds, Flycatchers don't learn their songs from their parents, but are born knowing it. Willow Flycatchers play a key role in testing this as researchers raised chicks from hatchling hearing only the songs of other Flycatchers, yet as they matured they knew and sang the Willow Flycatcher fitz-pew as if they'd never heard anything else.


Read more about Willow Flycatchers at All About Birds: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Willow_Flycatcher/

The idea of cleaning and processing birdsong is controversial in some circles as it "removes the bird from the environment it sings in". I agree with that sentiment, but I also record lots of soundscapes which showcase just that voice-environment relationship. I want to highlight the song itself and present it as clearly and intelligibly as possible while still maintaining the integrity of the bird's voice itself. Also, I sell and use sound effects. Sound designers in a hurry much more prefer something they can drop-in and use than anything they'll need to clean themselves.

If you'd like to hear more or license bird sounds for your project, feel free to message me directly in SoundCloud or click on one of my too-many social media buttons. Happy Listening!

Image Credit "578 - WILLOW FLYCATCHER (6-4-08) carrizo, saucito ranch lower spring, carrizo plain nat mon, slo co, ca" by Sloalan is marked with CC0 1.0

Willow Flycatcher Cleaning

If you've ever been in a Northern forest and thought you heard some tiny creature maniacally laughing at you, chances are it was the Golden-crowned Kinglet, Regulus satrapa. A hardy yet tiny bird, the Golden-crown Kinglet is found throughout the boreal forest of North America. I happened to record this little fellow on the Olympic Peninsula where they are resident in June of 2021.

This is a clean-processed recording. All background sound and noise has been carefully removed in an effort to focus on the bird's voice. 

Read more about Golden-crowned Kinglets at All About Birds: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-crowned_Kinglet

If you'd like to hear more or license bird sounds for your project, feel free to message me directly in SoundCloud or click on one of my too-many social media buttons. Happy Listening!

image credit: "707 - GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET (6-2-2015) franklin co, maine -01" by Sloalan is marked with CC0 1.0

Golden-crowned Kinglet

A tiny little bird with an outsized voice, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, is a bird of the Northern forests. Fearless defenders of their nests, males have been known to chase away Canada Jay mobs raiding for egg meals. The bird in this recording was putting on a continual arial display while I sat eating my lunch. Perched out on a fir limb around 20 feet up, it would sing and promptly flit out around 4-5 feet. After a few somersaults and maybe a hover it would return to the perch (or another nearby) and repeat. I say it did this while I ate my lunch... that just happens to be when I recorded it. It began its display during dawn while I slept nearby in a tent and continued with hardly a break through dusk.

I've been posting clean-processed recordings lately, with an eye towards celebrating the birds' voices. I chose to leave this one un-mastered, "raw" save for removing mic bumps and me coughing, just to show how quiet the location is. Adjust your volume until the Kinglet is at a comfortable listening level. That's what it was like.

Read more about Ruby-crowned Kinglets at All About Birds: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruby-crowned_Kinglet

If you'd like to hear more or license bird sounds for your project, feel free to message me directly in SoundCloud or click on one of my too-many social media buttons. Happy Listening!

Image credit: "708 - RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET (2)" by Sloalan is marked with CC0 1.0

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Boson Spin / P a b l o - Aphica (arrhythmia mix)

Kacie Day:  iscream

Inspired by the Youtube video of Magnapinna (Big fin squid) filmed in the Gulf of Mexico.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To2_Gq14UVs

Created using
4ms Spherical Wavetable Navigator  Oscillator
MakeNoise Wogglebug
MakeNoise Mimeophone
ALM Pamela's New Workout
DivKid 0chd

Image taken from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  "Windows on the deep 2021" project https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex2107/media-resources/bigfin-squid.html

Magnapinna

Stravati 2. Late night Session at the center.

Early morning. I went to see if it would be possible to record moor frogs in a place where I know they are. I didn't see any frogs, but I did meet a capercaillie. I tied the microphones to a tree and left to record. The picture shows the same bird that appears in the recording.

Equipment:
Zoom F3 digital recorder
An Azden microphone pre-amplifier/mixer
Primo Microphones with EM172 capsules. Recorded 32 bit 48kHz

Western capercaillie makes vocalizations in early spring forest

El conjunto del canto de ranas del Zarzal o trepadoras (Hypsiboas pulchellus) genera una obra sonora natural, acompañada de grillos y el sonido del mar. En su etapa de reproducción su llamado es muy sonoro, metálico y musical, producido por la rápida vibración de las cuerdas vocales que se amplifican por el saco vocal.

//ENG The singing of the Zarzal frogs or climbers (Hypsiboas pulchellus) generates a natural sound work, accompanied by crickets and the sound of the sea. In its reproduction stage, its call is very loud, metallic and musical, produced by the rapid vibration of the vocal cords that are amplified by the vocal sac.

— Grabación de campo realizada en un charcal a orillas de la  Playa Bello Horizonte, Costa Azul, Uruguay  05-04-2023 02:00 AM
///
Autor: @damian-alferez
Equipos: Grabadora Portátil ZOOM
Localidad: Playa Bello Horizonte, Costa Azul - Uruguay
Fecha: 5 de Abril del 2023
Hora: 02:00 AM (UTC-3)

Concierto de Ranas del Zarzal - Damián Alférez (AR)

Original Track by :
https://soundcloud.com/r3000/tilt

R3000 -Tilt (Senglar Ti RMX)

Voici un des sons surprenants que j’ai pu enregistrer au cours du voyage en Patagonie en novembre 2023 avec Fernand Deroussen. 
Attention à utiliser un dispositif d'écoute permettant de bien restituer les sons graves !

En arrivant dans la vallée de Chingue, au sud-est de El Calafate, nous avions l’impression qu’il y avait des travaux dans un chalet, comme des coups de marteau. 
Alors que je cherchais à enregistrer un oiseau, j’ai pu entendre distinctement un son sourd, répétitif à quelques mètres de moi et ce son provenait du sol ! Il y avait des trous dans le sol, caractéristiques d’un micromammifère. En croisant plusieurs sources d’informations, j’ai alors pu déterminer qu’il s’agissait du Tuco tuco de Magellan (Ctenomys magellanicus). 

Déjà, Charles Robert Darwin dans son récit du voyage du Beagle entre 1826 et 1836 écrivait à propos de cette espèce : « Au R. Negro, dans le nord de la Patagonie, il y a un animal qui a les mêmes habitudes et probablement des espèces très proches, mais que je n'ai jamais vu. Son bruit est différent de celui de l'espèce Maldonado [Ctenomys brasiliensis] ; il n'est répété que deux fois au lieu de trois ou quatre, et il est plus distinct et plus sonore : lorsqu'on l'entend de loin, il ressemble tellement au bruit que l'on fait en coupant un petit arbre avec une hache, que j'ai parfois eu des doutes à son sujet » (Jaksic 2023).

Le capitaine du Beagle, Robert Fitz-Roy, rapporte que "ce nom indien [tucu-tucu], prononcé de manière gutturale, exprime le curieux son produit par ces créatures lorsqu'elles sont sous terre,  un bruit qui ressemble un peu au coup d'un marteau éloigné » (Jaksic 2023).  Le son peut être entendu à au moins 10-15 mètres du terrier (Francescoli 1999).
Les Ctenomys sont des rongeurs vivant dans le sol. Soixante-neuf espèces ont été décrites, toutes présentent en Amérique du Sud (Zache et al. 2021). 
Malheureusement, le répertoire acoustique de ces espèces a été peu étudié. La plupart des données ont été obtenues en laboratoire et les rares études sur des espèces dans leur milieu naturel ne portent que sur les sons audibles en dehors des galeries souterraines. Les vocalisations des Ctenomys n’ont été étudiées que chez trois espèces. Ces espèces peuvent aussi produire des sons non vocaux produits par des vibrations de leur corps ou des claquements de dents (Zache et al. 2021). 
Dans cet enregistrement, il s’agit d’une émission vocale, de type séquentiel. L’animal ouvre la bouche, lève la tête et contracte son corps pour produire les sons (Francescoli 1999). Dans une étude sur deux autres espèces de Ctenomys, Zaché et son équipe ont pu mettre en évidence 5 types de vocalisation différents (Zache et al. 2021). 
Il est probable qu'il s'agisse ici d'un cri d'alarme en présence d'intrus. Mais sachant que les vocalisations de cette espèce n’ont pas fait l’objet d’études à ce jour, il est difficile d’en connaître réellement la signification (Jaksic, comm. pers 2023).

Cette espèce n'est pas menacée (LC (Llobet et al. 2023)). 

Bibliographie :
FRANCESCOLI, Gabriel, 1999. A preliminary report on the acoustic communication in Uruguayan Ctenomys (Rodentia, Octodontidae): basic sounds types. Bioacoustics-the International Journal of Animal Sound and Its Recording - BIOACOUSTICS. 1 janvier 1999. Vol. 10, pp. 203‑218. 
JAKSIC, Fabian, 2023. Historical and current knowledge of the Magellanic tuco-tuco Ctenomys magellanicus in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, South America. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural. 11 septembre 2023. Vol. 96. 
LLOBET, Toni, VELIKOV, Ilian, SOGORB, Lluís, PEACOCK, Faansie, JUTGLAR, Francesc, MASCARELL, Àlex et MARTÍ & JES, Blanca, 2023. All the Mammals of the World. Barcelona : Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-84-16728-66-4. 
ZACHE, Keila, SILVEIRA, Lucas, FRANCESCOLI, Gabriel et FREITAS, Thales, 2021. Description of the sound diversity of two species of tuco-tucos ( Ctenomys torquatus and Ctenomys lami ) in natural environment. 
Photo cc by Sebastián Saiter V

Ctenomys magellanicus - Tuco Tuco De Magellan

Cortèges
for singer/dancer, large orchestra and electronics
(binaural recording, please use Headphones)

Voice : François Chaignaud
Conductor : Alain Altinoglu
Orchestre de Paris

Composition : Sasha J. Blondeau
Livret : Hélène Giannecchini

Recording : 06/09/2023, Philharmonie de Paris, Salle Boulez.
Sound recording : Radio France / Ircam
Mixing : Luca Bagnoli & Sasha J. Blondeau
Score publisher : Durand - Universal France

Coproduction Philharmonie de Paris, Ircam-Centre Pompidou
Dans le cadre de Manifeste-2023, Festival de l'Ircam
Avec le soutien de la Villa San Francisco, de la French American Cultural Society, de la Fondation Royaumont et de la SACEM

Cortèges

Cortèges - voice, large orchestra & electronics (binaural)

In the stillness of a Swedish forest, a solitary Mistle Thrush sings its melancholic tune. This recording captures the essence of the forest, a place where time seems to stand still and the beauty of nature can be fully appreciated.

Recorded 14.04.2023
Zoom F3 + Sennheiser MKH8020

Image courtesy of Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (Creative Commons)

Mistle Thrush - Öjesjöbrännan Ekopark, Västerfärnebo, Sweden

In the still, quiet night air of the Olympic National Park's  Queets Rain Forest river valley, a lone Barred Owl sings from a nearby tree. It's voice echoing off the majestic trees of this old-growth rain forest, it calls longingly, awaiting an answer from the darkness that may never come.

Strix Varia

Field Recordist / Sound designer
Shhhhh. Listening to nature.

To license sounds or for all other inquiries: info@andymartinsound.com

#naturesound #naturesoundscape #fieldrecording #naturesounds #savequiet #listentonature #soundscape

Strix Varia

Andy Martin, Field Recordist

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