Singing and calling
Some birds have a somewhat broad vocabulary composed by calls and songs. Calls are short and are usually used as a warning of predator or even courtship. Some birds from the same family even have specific calls for what they try to communicate . Songs are longer and have a more complex structure and have more content. They are usually performed by males to identify the ownership of a territory.
If vision is the star of birdwatching then hearing is the script. The sight can only know where to start looking only if it’s first guided by the sounds the birds make. Identifying call and songs is one central aspect of birding, and, for most of the participants, the “ultimate goal”. Understanding a bird’s call is not only something we pursue just to know which species are near us but also to try to decode the message that is always present. “ They are always talking and listening to them is a way of trying to translate what they are trying to say. For example, I recently learned that with Coal Tits o, how we call them in America, Chickadees, the longer the “dee” of their call means the bigger is the threat” explained Jaquie. Sound then, becomes an element of kinship between human and birds, as it raises a desire to understand and translate what the other species is trying to communicate, but it also makes us aware of a certain utopism inaccessible for us. “Even if birds have different calls, songs, shapes, colors and behavior, there is this commonality that they are the same species or family and some of them can mimic other bird’s call. That’s wild! We humans are so limited by culture to understand each other” said Ash when we were talking about the therapeutic element of birding.
Birding as a therapeutic hobby is the one of the most common aspects among the group members. Many of the participants started this activity due to the pandemic and the lockdowns as an activity to take care of themselves, and sound was predominantly the sound most associated with this meditative aspect. “Hearing something that reminds you of something bigger that you are part of. It’s very centring, it gives a calm sense of presence” said Mai. Birds are an extremely relevant agent of mostly any soundscape and tapping into that common element wherever you are has become a tool for the participants mindscape. During the birding walks the bird's sound was prioritized, which is why we stayed silent as much as possible and talked to each other in a low manner. In a way, the silence among the participants means not only an non-verbal element of bonding but also as a kind of lawful pact. “ It's nice to be in a non-verbal state and be actively engaging with a group of people. It’s super unusual for me, and in a way a bit intimate. I don’t get to be chill and vibing with someone I barely know’ ” said Lio.
On other occasions, we related with the birds through digital sound. Sometimes, when we saw or heard a bird that was close to us but we wanted to have a closer look we would use the bird sound archive of the Merlin app to call them and, in a way, “talk” with them.