Looking at Birdsong
Watch Film
To watch a short film about Looking at Birdsong, click here.
We can use spectrograms to see the details of a bird’s call, or even the sounds that are hard to hear. Can you think of any birds which may be difficult to hear? Or a flying mammal?
Why is it faster to look rather than hear?
When lots of different bird species sing together, like in the dawn chorus, we can see all of their songs on the spectrogram. This means they are using different pitches (frequencies). Do you think this is on purpose? What if a new species of bird arrives that sounds like a bird that is already there?
Looking and listening to Dawn Choruses
Dawn is the early morning, when it starts to get light. Many birds begin their day by singing at this time. In this activity, you will look and listen to the sounds of three dawn choruses - one in the city centre, one from Matairangi/Mt Victoria and one from Zealandia (Te Māra a Tāne). Match the spectrogram and the sound, to the manu or other animal or object. It may be handy to have a piece of paper and pen to note your answers down as you look and listen to the spectrograms. The answers are on the next page. Good luck!
City Dawn Chorus
These are recordings from Pōneke Wellington city centre.
Find the matching spectrogram to the following sounds:
Blackbird Alarm call
Sparrow cheeping
Reversing truck
Karoro (Black backed gull)
Blackbird song
Bin truck
Tūī
Truck engine
A few sparrows cheeping
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Matairangi Dawn Chorus
Find the matching spectrogram to the following sounds:
Tauhou (silvereye)
Kōtare (New Zealand kingfisher)
Tūī and riroriro (Grey warbler)
Pīwakawaka (New Zealand fantail)
Tūī alarming
Kākā and sparrow
Riroriro (Grey warbler)
Emergency siren
Dog barking
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Super Challenge Spectrogram
Look and listen to the spectrogram. How many manu can you identify? Any other sounds?
Zealandia Dawn Chorus
Find the matching spectrogram to the following sounds:
Kākāriki (Red crowned parakeet)
Riroriro (Grey warbler)
Kiwi pukupuku (Little Spotted Kiwi)
Blackbird
Kākā screech
Chaffinch weep
Tūī
Pīwakawaka (New Zealand Fantail)
Rain
Kākā and toutouwai (North Island Robin)
Only toutouwai
Tīeke (saddleback) alarm
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Answers
City Dawn Chorus
1. Bin truck
2. Karoro (Black backed gull)
3. Blackbird song and blackbird alarm call and reversing truck
4. Blackbird song and reversing truck
5. A few sparrows cheeping and blackbird
6. Reversing truck
7. Sparrow cheeping and truck engine
8. Tūī
Matairangi Dawn Chorus
1. Emergency siren (you may also have heard sparrows and a riroriro)
2. Kākā and sparrows
3. Kōtare (New Zealand kingfisher) (you may also have heard sparrows, a blackbird and an unidentified bird making a high-pitched tweet)
4. Pīwakawaka (New Zealand fantail)
5. Tauhou (silvereye) (you may also have heard a tūī and a bin truck)
6. A tūī alarming and a dog barking
7. Tūī and riroriro (Grey warbler) (you probably heard sparrows)
8. Wētā (you may also have heard a tūī, a blackbird)
Super challenge Spectrogram
Tūī, riroriro (grey warbler), kōtare (kingfisher), sparrows, blackbird
Well done!
Zealandia Dawn Chorus
1. Blackbird (you may also have heard a tūī)
2. Chaffinch weep (you may also have heard a toutouwai (North Island Robin) and a riroriro (grey warbler))
3. Kākā and toutouwai (North Island Robin) (you may also have heard a tūī)
4. Kākāriki (Red crowned parakeet) (you may also have heard a toutouwai)
5. Kākā screech (you may also have heard a toutouwai and a tūī)
6. Kiwi pukupuku (Little Spotted Kiwi)
7. Pīwakawaka (New Zealand Fantail) (you may also have heard a riroriro)
8. Riroriro(Grey warbler) (you may also have heard a blackbird)
9. Tīeke (saddleback) alarm
10. Only toutouwai (you may also have heard a tūī)
11. Tūī (you may also have heard a toutouwai)
Rain: It sounds like it was raining in every recording!
