Wikipedia:Featured sound candidates/New Zealand Bellbird

New Zealand Bellbird

I'm new to featured sounds, but I believe this recording meets the criteria. It appears in New Zealand Bellbird.

• Nominate and support. --Avenue (talk) 06:34, 22 April 2011 (UTC)
• Support—nice. Tony (talk) 06:13, 24 April 2011 (UTC)
• Support Seems like a nice field recording.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 07:23, 24 April 2011 (UTC)
• This is a good recording, but if this bird is part of the dawn chorus in these islands, I'm guessing this isn't the most representative or best recording that could be made of its song, if it is technically its song—but I don't know much about the bird, and the article doesn't help. So some more information is needed, and this might not be a featured sound (though even if what I expect is correct, the featured sound criteria seem to say that it can be featured, unless something better comes along). —innotata 13:30, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

• I'm not sure whether I follow you, sorry. Is your concern about the absence of other types of birds (i.e. this not being part of a "chorus")? Or are you concerned about the bellbirds being described simply as "singing"? If so, you're right; my description was not very precise. A mixture of bellbird song and less melodious bellbird calls was recorded here, and I've now changed the description to say "singing and calling" instead. --Avenue (talk) 15:00, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

• Yes, that's what I was wondering. It was puzzling to see simply "birds singing … around a bird feeder", even before hearing it; this is presumably not quite the same as a recording of the song, without other birds or with in the dawn chorus mentioned. Now I have still more questions: Do you know if the song in this recording is similar to what (they appear from your statements to) sing early in the morning perching like most birds? At what time of day this was recorded and what the birds were doing in more detail? What parts of the recording would you identify as songs or particular types of calls, if any? Any more information on the description or in the article would greatly improve the value, and what is presented on the species. I'm not sure this is all that special for illustrating the vocalisations of the species, though it looks like it meets the criteria unless/until something better comes along; and the emphasis in the description probably needs to be changed. —innotata 15:29, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

• I'm no expert on bellbird vocalisations, but there seems to be a moderate amount of info available, and a study has even been conducted about their song on this particular island (Dianne H. Brunton and Xiaoling Li. "The song structure and seasonal patterns of vocal behavior of male and female bellbirds (Anthornis melanura)". Journal of Ethology. 24 (1): 17–25. doi:10.1007/s10164-005-0155-5.). To go through your questions:

1. My personal impression is that the song/calls recorded here are more typical of competition over a localised resource than the more widely separated (territorial?) singing common in the dawn chorus. According to Brunton and Li, "synchronized counter-singing bouts were always in association with a nectar source (either sugar-water feeders or flowering plants)". I think my recording provides a useful illustration of this behaviour, although other recordings (e.g. of their alarm call, or the dawn chorus) would also be valuable.
2. This was recorded at 2:33 pm NZDT, somewhat outside what Brunton and Li give as the peak singing period (07:00-14:00), but not unusual. The birds were singing/calling as they arrived and sat in the trees around the feeder (with some jockeying for position), and as they left. I've now uploaded a corresponding video, although this just shows them on the feeder itself.
3. I've been using the terms call and song fairly loosely, and don't have a firm classification of vocalisations into calls and songs in mind. A starting point would be short harsh calls versus extended melodious songs, but bellbirds do integrate harsh wheezes and croaks amid more pleasant tones,[1] so this doesn't provide a clear split. Brunton and Li "defined calls as short harsh-sounding single units [...] and songs as groups of syllables always sung in the same order", which doesn't account for such mixtures either. Using that definition (without worrying too much about the "same order" part), the recording exhibits overlapping songs and calls throughout, with song predominating earlier and calls more common later. The only type of call I've seen named is their alarm call, and I don't hear any examples of that here.

The caption probably does overemphasise the dawn chorus, which is relevant to the bird, but not so much this recording. I'll revise it tomorrow. --Avenue (talk) 17:29, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks; I'd suggest you put a bit of relevant information on the article and image description. I'm still not sure whether to actually support the nomination; my thoughts are that there just aren't sensible criteria on whether this should be featured, and I've had those for pictures and music in mind (for whether it is quite good, useful, and representative enough). But that's because nobody is going out there and recording large amounts of field recordings, so it's certainly great you've made this recording and put it up here. —innotata 22:09, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

I see you've put the video up; now I can see what they actually are doing, some of the time (except that it's slow to load for me, so I'll have to see the whole thing later). It doesn't look like the video lacks anything in the audio file, so would featuring the video be better? —innotata 22:23, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Promoted Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 14:00, 29 April 2011 (UTC)