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Birds in different regions have their own variations of calls

on 19th April 2013

“On our recent trip to Taiwan, my bird guide and me were comparing the calls of my favourite ball of feathers, the Collared Owlet (Glaucidium brodiei). The Taiwanese Collared Owlet call was slower, and more mellow, while the one I have from Malaysia’s Fraser’s Hill was faster and sharper. So I tried using my Fraser’s Hill Collared Owlet call to see if I can get any reaction – absolutely no response, they just ignored it.

“So from this little experiment I guess that there are variations in calls for the same type of birds in different countries. Just like the Chinese diaspora, hokkien, cantonese, teochew, hakka, etc.”

KC Tsang
Singapore
1st April 2013

Note: More on dialects in bird songs can be found in Gill, F. B., 2007. Ornithology. W. H. Freeman & Co., New York – p235-237.

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

2 Responses

  1. The Taiwanese owlet is the endemic subspecies Glaucidium brodiei pardalotum. You can find samples of the slightly different calls at xeno-canto.

  2. It is well known among songbird fanciers that birds from different areas may develop different “dialects,” Speaking about shamas (Copsychus malabaricus) there are about 18 subspecies, and quite a number of them can be distinguished not only by body shape, but also by call. The more robust birds from Pahang and Johor tend to call using individual whistling notes. The slender birds from Langkawi and Penang call with a rolling song, the notes flowing into each other.

    This is also true of red whiskered bulbuls (Pycnonotus jocusus). Birds from Thailand and Malaysia have a higher-pitched and bubbly song. Those from India have deeper notes.

    And of course canary fanciers have developed, through selective breeding, distinct song types characteristic of different bloodlines. The song of a German Waterslager sounds like bubbling water. A Spanish Timbrado has a more strident call. But never forget that both birds are the same species, Serinus canarius, and will interbreed freely.

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