Great Tit song variation

Several species are starting to advertise by song as February progresses. Around Totteridge in north London today I heard both Chaffinch and Song Thrush uttering some less familiar plastic song. The young Chaffinch was essentially practising and all song deliveries lacked the terminal flourish. What was unusual was that it was sharing a branch with another male from which there was no response at all. Song Thrushes typically sing from an exposed vantage point at some height but the young male I recorded today was hidden in dense blackthorn scrub.

Great Tits have been singing full songs for a few weeks now but many birds are still roving around in winter feeding flocks. I recorded one individual with three song types as follows:

Song #1: single strophe (5-8 double elements) repeated at a rate of 16/min



Song #2: single strophe (4-11 double elements) repeated at a rate of 11/min



Song #3: single strophe (7-20 double elements) repeated at a rate of 11/min