BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD
[In honor of Halloween, a species dressed for the occasion!]
Even though our cultural sings the praises of summer, it’s not my favorite season. I always welcome the crisp air, deeper blue (and, admittedly sometimes flat gray) skies, and red-orange-yellow leaf palette that arrives after the autumnal equinox. My appreciation of fall begins as early as possible and includes more and longer walks through the park and around the neighborhood, with and without my canine companion.
In my experience, the Lafayette Park residents tends to sleep in a bit longer on Sundays, or maybe Dash and I just made it out to door a little earlier than all the other dog-and baby-walkers; regardless of the reason, this particular morning was quiet enough for me to hear a feathered fellow shouting his heart out from the power lines above.
I peered skyward and saw the Halloween-appropriate black, white, and bittersweet orange of an Eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)). I’ve read descriptions of this bird’s call as “Drink your tea!” but to my ears it sounds like, “Drink your tea-hehehehe!”
I stopped and watched for as long as Dash would allow, enjoying the sight and sound of this serious sparrow with a major case of the giggles, then we picked up the pace and continued walking.
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Several minutes later… more laughter.
Were we being followed?
Most likely is was a different individual; after all, male towhees tend not to stray far from home base and their Mrs..
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Further along our way… more tea, more chuckles.
I felt like I was hearing a musical baton passed from one bird to the next in an auditory relay…
Drink your tea-hehehehe!
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Drink your tea-hehehehe!
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Drink your tea-hehehehe!
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I can recognize a game of Telephone when I hear it! In this case, though, all of the players were excellent listeners who repeated the phrase exactly, with perfect fidelity and zero degradation.
Since garbled messages are the whole point and fun of Telephone, I wasn’t sure why the towhees found the game so funny. I’ve heard recorded birds calls I couldn’t distinguish by ear even though the sonograms (graphical representations of sound) showed clear variations. My eyes could see what my hearing wasn’t sensitive enough to notice… maybe if I had Towhee ears I’d be in on the joke.
When Dash and I returned home I had the strangest craving for a cup of tea (strange because I don’t even like tea).
Learn more about the birds who call Lafayette Park home!
