FAMILY MUSCICAPIDAE (continued)
Golden-Crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)
a. A high, wiry see-see-see (P,L).
3-5 very high creeper-like notes (R).
Often have a buzzy quality, whereas Brown Creeper's are more of a pure tone.
b. Feeding notes: light twittering notes, very similar to Brown Creeper feeding notes. Difficult to distinguish from Creeper.
c. Song: a series of high thin notes (similar to call notes) ascending in pitch and then running into a descending chickadee-like chatter (P,R).
Pitched almost inaudibly high, a series of tsee notes accelerating into a trill (N).
May be confused at a distance with Chestnut-Backed Chickadee chatter, but lighter in quality.
Calls may be confused with those of the Brown Creeper. Hints: kinglet calls are usually less piercing, have a somewhat wheezy or buzzy quality, and are less of a pure tone than those of the creeper.
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)
a. A husky ji-dit (P).
A low-pitched, short 2-note scold (R).
A sharp chit-it (L).
A scolding je-dit je-dit (N).
b. Feeding chatter: a continuous ratchet sound, interrupted intermittantly by brief pauses. Similar to call "a", but more run-together.
c. Song: quite loud; 3-4 high notes, several low notes, and a chant, tee tee tee, tew tew tew tew, ti-dadee ti-dadee ti-dadee. Variable (P).
High and weak at beginning and end, but has very loud ascending triplets in the middle (R).
Begins with several high, thin tsee notes, followed by descending tew notes and concluding with a rich warbling of 3-note phrases (N).
FAMILY BOMBYCILLIDAE
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
a. A high lisp or zeee; sometimes slightly trilled (P).
A high sibilant see-e-e-e (U).
A hissing, high-pitched, lisping ssse sssee seee (F).
A soft, high-pitched, trilled whistle (N).
Example (from perch on tree top).
b. Song: a series of soft low trills on varying pitches (L).
A very high thin monotone, generally with a slight quaver that distinguishes it from the Brown Creeper. Often given in flight; American Robin has similar flight note, but the waxwing's are slurred together, and are of longer duration.
FAMILY VIREONIDAE
Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni)
One of the most diverse vocalists with an amazing array of types of calls.
a. A thin, rising wheezzz or whizzz or zzzhh, with a somewhat waivering quality.
b. Weak vhit or whit, similar to a weak Black-Headed Grosbeak chip note.
Harsh chit, chit (U).
A light kip (L).
A low chit (N).
c. A loud pree, with a wheezy quality. Redolent of Western Wood-Pewee, but mostly ascending in pitch.
d. Frequently, a hoarse, deliberate day dee dee, very different from the ji-dit of the Ruby-Crowned Kinglet (P).
e. A loud, clear bleep bleep bleep or baleep baleep baleep, etc., given when agitated.
f. A clear, whistled tee-o-wheet; suggests Western Flycatcher, but more musical, first syllable more distinct or accented.
g. A buzzy monotone bzzzzt, with an insect-like quality, given by fledglings when begging for food.
h. Immature scold: harsh, buzzy rarhn, rarhn, rarhn, suggests Rufous-Sided Towhee, but buzzier, higher in pitch.
i. Song: double-noted zu-weep, with rising inflection, sometimes continuously repeated; vireo quality (P).
Chu-wee chu-wee (U).
Nasal, 2-syllable, widely spaced phrases: zuwee, zuwoo, zeeoo (F).
A ventriloquial chu-weem, chu-weem or zu-weep, zu-weep (L).
Given as either a slow version or a fast version.
Slow song: example 1, example 2, example 3. Fast song.
j. Alternate song: a descending, buzzy dzeoo, dzeoo, dzeoo, repetitive, 50/min.
Che-eer che-eer (U).
Example 1, example 2, example 3.
May also alternate between upslurred and downslurred notes when singing, as with song i above
Songs usually very repetitive and persistent. Vocalizations very diverse, but often have a "buzzy" quality. Vireo notes perhaps best described as scolds (S. Harris, pers. comm.).
k. A slow, repetitive dzeoo, descending in pitch, as in the first note of song j above.
These notes can be buzzy, or clear in tone.
Solitary Vireo (Vireo solitarius)
a. A harsh chr, chr, chr (U).
A low purring note (L).
Scold note harsh, wrenlike (F).
Can be repetitive.
b. Song: short whistled phrases, with rising and falling inflection, rendered with a short wait between phrases (P).
Often 2 or 3 notes per phrase (R).
Slow, slurred, rising and falling phrases, with a buzzy quality: zoowee, zeeyoo, zoowee, etc., as if asking a question, then answering; scratchy, but not very hoarse.
Also has a wide variety of other buzzy, vireo-like scolds.
Song carries 150 m or more.
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
a. A soft vit (U).
A soft whit or whik; suggests Black-Headed Grosbeak note, but softer.
b. A soft, wheezy, querulous twee (P,L).
A drawling nasal shree, shree (L).
c. A monotone buzz, dzzzzzz, increasing in volume, and longer in duration than call b above. Often associated with dry, somewhat buzzy chips, cht, cht-cht.
d. A harsh ratchet-like rattle, may slightly ascend or descend in pitch.
e. Song: a languid warble unlike broken phraseology of other vireos; suggests Purple Finch's song, but less spirited, with burry undertone (P).
Often ends abruptly on rising note (F).
A squeaky wavery zeeker, zeekery, zeekery, zeek (L).
Also slower than Purple Finch; notes have a buzzy or burry quality; alternates high and low notes in phrases to give an "up-and-down" or "back-and-forth" feeling to song.
f. Song of immature is less complete and softer than that of adults.
Call "b" carries only 20 m; "d" 35 m or more in brushfield.