Bird Calls

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pausing next to tall brush and oak trees, I hear the calls of a bird in the immediate environment around me. This little bird is singing a simple melody, two staccato eighth notes which repeat five times. Its call is compelling; I am lost in the melody, picturing how it might be written as soprano notes on sheet music. After two bars of the same melody, a second bird joins in, holding a single legato note. The first bird is a tufted titmouse and the second a blue jay. I am mesmerized, pondering how and why would these two very different types of birds in stature, color, brain size, and behavior, with completely different calls be communicating with one another? wings flutter and soar melodies fill the crisp air spring’s sweet symphony