Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org ribbit chirp chirp Seasonal Sightings Environmental Adventures The buzzzz Whether it’s chirping chipmunks, singing birds, or calling katydids, Sounds of one thing is for sure—sounds will abound this summer in Conservation Summer Concert Series: District sites. It’s easy to experience the chorus. Just head to one of our Summer 32 sites and venture out onto the trails. Try the activities below, and Nature’s Symphony listen to as many nature sounds as you can this summer. by Kim Compton, Education Program Coordinator Broadwinged katydid The beauty of nature is well Can you make these animal sounds? documented – with scenic vistas, photographs, and paintings; but Snowy tree cricket Run your finger down the teeth Clemson University–USDA Cooperative Extension have you ever really stopped Slide Series, Bugwood.org of a comb to make a sound like a chorus frog call. to listen to nature? A veritable symphony of sounds greets us every time we venture out into the great Rub two pieces of sandpaper outdoors. Summertime is an especially musical time. together to make a sound American tree sparrow like a grasshopper calling. Bob Williams Bob Birds can have harsh down or speeds up based on calls, sweet songs, and everything in between. Visit the the temperature. This means wetlands to hear the ever-present “conk-a-reeeee” call of we can try to approximate the the red-winged blackbird. You may also be rewarded with a evening temperature by listening suddenly loud and resonating cry of a nesting sandhill crane to cricket chirps! The Farmer’s MAKE A SOUND MAP! or the almost-maniacal whinny of the seldom seen sora rail. Almanac formula suggests to Red-winged blackbird In the woodlands, especially in the evening before sunset, listen count how many times you hear Head out to a local conservation area to do this fun activity. Test your ears by for the robin-like sound of the wood thrush or the magical the snowy tree cricket chirp within 14 seconds then add finding a spot to sit down and listen carefully for animals and other nature sounds. ethereal call of its cousin the veery. If you are serenaded by 40 to it to get the approximate temperature in Fahrenheit. Draw what you hear around you below. Do you recognize any sounds as being a constant and repetitive “drink-your-teeeea!” you should Test out your local crickets to see if they are made by the sample animals you see on the page below? look around for the robin-sized rufous-sided towhee. good at tracking the temperature. Fun fact In the grasslands lots of species of sparrows, are well Mammals may not be known for their vocalizations but there Blue Jays frequently mimic camouflaged in the tall grass. Listen for two musical certainly are some noisemakers among them. Coyotes have the call of hawks! Next tones followed by a high pitched buzzing call to locate the a complex system of communication that includes barks, grasshopper sparrow. The field sparrow is also fairly high- yips, and howls. Raccoons are also quite vocal, chattering to time you think you hear a pitched but its call speeds up faster and faster like a ping-pong talk amongst the family and making many loud threatening hawk, take a closer look. ball dropped onto the ground. The song sparrow doesn’t yowls and barks when they fight for their territory. The Chipmunks have two usually hide while it sings its varied and musical song—it mammals you are most likely to hear during a daytime walk will be perched in a prominent spot on a bush and you will through a conservation area are chipmunks and squirrels. different types of alarm recognize it by the dark spot on the center of its chest. If you Chipmunks are often mistaken for birds because they let out calls. One in response to should suddenly hear a loud scream, “psheeewww”, look up for a repetitive and very loud “chirp” when they are warning ground predators, like a red-tailed hawk hunting for food. If you cannot find one, it is each other of an intruder. Squirrels coyotes. The other in possible there is a blue jay nearby practicing its impressions! also warn others of danger with Listen online response to predators in Frogs too can be identified by their calls, but none of them loud “chuck, chuck” sounds. Birds: Cornell Lab of the air, like really sound like “ribbit, ribbit”. The green frog is more like This summer try a walk through a Ornithology hawks. the plucking of a single string on an out-of-tune banjo, over beautiful conservation area and www.allaboutbirds.org and over. Bullfrogs have a call that suits their large size, a very every once in a while close your eyes deep bass singing “aruuuuum, jaruuuuuum”. A slightly higher and listen. You may be astounded at Frogs: Chicago Wilderness pitched snoring sound is the call of the northern leopard frog. the beauty around you. Habitat Project Summertime is also insect singing time. The hot humid air www.habitatproject.org/ seems to have a constant buzz as katydids, grasshoppers, frogsurvey/chicagoland.html crickets, and cicadas all call out for mates. Katydids seem to Mammals: IDNR chant their name, the multisyllabic “kat-y-did” repeated www.dnr.state.il.us/ quickly again and again. You can hear the vibrations as cicadas education/classrm/wild_ READING CORNER transmit their loud “screee-uh, screee-uh”. Grasshoppers mammals/media/sounds.htm sound like two pieces of sandpaper scratching together and The Songs of Insects in fact they are rubbing their rough legs along their wings to Insects: Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott & Will Hershberger www.musicofnature.org make the sound. Crickets have more of a “chirp” that slows Discovering the Sounds Bull frog of Nature by Dana Richter Bob Williams 8 Landscapes | Landscapes | 9 Summer 2012 Summer 2012 Environmental Seasonal Sightings Adventures Birds/bird nests Birds make a variety of nest types in a variety of locations. Some birds, like crows, prefer to build their nest high in the tree tops. Baltimore orioles attach their basket-like nest about 25–30 feet high in a tree. An American robin will nest anywhere from 3–25 feet high and the red-winged blackbird weaves its nest into grasses near wetland areas about 3 feet from the ground. There are also ground Bird Nests nesters such as the eastern meadowlark. For as many varieties of birds as they are in our area, Use the chart below while you are out hiking and looking for nests this summer. Simply make a check mark for each type and location of nest that you see. Or, you can write the name of the bird the nest belongs to if there may be almost as many varieties of nests. Going you know what it is. See the example below. out for a hike to find bird nests can be a fun, A kildeer with eggs in a gravel nest, photo by Dave Miller. Low-Branch, Tree-top High-Branch Hollow Tree Ground Cup Other educational, and rewarding experience. Nests on the ground are much more susceptible to predation, Bush and so these nests are usually well camouflaged. Wild turkeys simply make a depression in a pile of leaves at the base of a Cavity nesters are birds that nest in a hole, or tree or fallen log. Their eggs are buff-colored and speckled cavity. Woodpeckers often excavate a hole with reddish brown spots, matching the colors of the fallen in a dead or dying tree first, but then other leaves the turkey used as a nest lining. Killdeer barely make a birds may take over the nest holes later. scrape in the sand or gravel before they lay their eggs. Luckily Date A red-bellied woodpecker’s nesting hole their eggs blend in well to the surroundings, although this can May 9 Low branch robin is found anywhere on the tree trunk, or sometimes be a problem. Because of the killdeer’s preference fairly vertical branch, from 5 to 70 feet up for sandy or gravelly areas, they often make nests in dangerous a tree, with the entrance being roughly a places like parking lots, railroad beds, and gravel roads. A tree swallow on top of what was two inch circle. The hairy woodpecker will once a cavity nest, like those below. make a more elongated entrance hole, a Photos by Bob Williams. Cup nests are little taller than it is wide, while the smaller created in the downy woodpecker makes a perfectly crooks of branches circular hole 1 ¼ inches in diameter. Birds and have a well that nest in former woodpecker holes Please read “How To Look For Bird Nests Safely and Responsibly” on the previous page. formed inner cup include screech owls, bluebirds, starlings, to hold the eggs. tree swallows, and chickadees. Robins make deep Try These at Home Activities cup nests using grasses, strips Invite birds to Have fun constructing a Lucky enough to have a pair of of cloth, string, nest in your yard nest. Name five birds that birds build a nest in your yard? and other assorted by providing nest you know. Learn about This is a great opportunity to materials. The building materials. Place bits of string, their nests by finding out watch and learn who builds female adds a Eastern kingbird, photo by Dave Miller. dried grass, yarn, pieces of moss, thin strips what nesting materials are used and how the nest; male- female-or both? Who sits layer of mud to of cloth, and hair into a mesh bag or in a the nests are constructed.