Date: 12/31/25 4:22 pm From: Abby Sesselberg via CTBirds <ctbirds...> Subject: [CT Birds] Re: Bird music
For folks interested in the relationship between birds and music, David
Rothenberg <https://davidrothenberg.wordpress.com/> travels the world
playing music with birds, whales, and all kinds of interesting things.
At the bottom of his homepage, you can see a list to access his work in
many formats,
-Abby Sesselberg
Guilford
On Wed, Dec 31, 2025 at 3:55 PM Tom de Boor via CTBirds <
<ctbirds...> wrote:
> The last couple of months, as migration wound down and our winter birds
> settled in, I've occasionally played human choral music with close
> harmonies for the birds on Regional Water Authority land in Northford, just
> to see what would happen, and wanted to share my experiences so far.
>
> Song: Born To Be With You, The Chordettes
>
> Response: 10-11 juncos and one cardinal, previously hidden, more or less
> immediately popped up out of the brush. I fully expected them to fly away,
> but instead they kept hopping higher and higher, first in the brush, then
> nearby trees. The Cardinal and a couple of the Juncos ended up fairly high
> up, directly overhead.
>
> Song: There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart), Eurythmics, Annie
> Lennox
>
> Response: Initially, it seemed like the only bird around was a Blue Jay
> making odd sounds, far enough away that it wasn't clear if it was
> responding or even listening. Then I noticed two female Cardinals about 20
> feet in front of me and 60 feet up in a tree, sitting quietly and looking
> down. A male Cardinal appeared, and by flying at the females caused them to
> fly, then a second male appeared, got into an altercation with the first
> one, and one male fled with the other in hot pursuit. Shortly thereafter,
> both females returned and appeared to be listening again.
>
> Song: In Stiller Nacht (not Silent Night), an old German folk song,
> beautifully arranged in four-part harmony by Pink Martini and the Von Trapp
> Singers (grandchildren of the original)
>
> Response: 4-5 titmice, 4-5 chickadees, 2 goldfinches, a Downy Woodpecker,
> and a nuthatch flew in or approached almost as soon as I started playing
> it. After about 30 seconds, one of the chickadees and an unseen Carolina
> Wren (soon joined by a second) began singing in full voice (this on 12/31),
> and continued to do so, one of the wrens continuing until I turned the
> music off.
>
> I'm assuming I'm not the only person who has done this. Wondering what the
> experience of other members of the CT birding community has been if/when
> you did...
>
> Best, as always,
>
> Tom de Boor
> Northford, CT
>
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