From somewhere in the backyard, an Eastern towhee says: "Drink your teeeee!" Then, a Carolina wren says: "Tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea." A Northern cardinal chimes in: "Cheer, cheer, cheer, purty, purty, purty." And a tufted titmouse calls out: "Peter, peter, peter."
These birds, of course, aren't talking to each other. The catchy phrases attributed to them are what birders call "birding mnemonics" — words or phonetics that mimic a bird's song. Birders devise such gimmicks to help them identify a bird by its sound. That's important because we hear far more birds than we see.
You may want to make up your own phrase or scheme to help remember a bird's song or call. Here are some mnemonics, compiled by Fernbank Science Center ornithologists, of some other common Georgia birds:
» American robin — "Cheerup, cheerily, cheerily."
» Wood thrush — "Ee-o-lay"
» Eastern phoebe — "Fee-bee" or "Fee-blee."
» Gray catbird — "Meeow."
» Ovenbird — "Teacher, teacher, teacher."
» Carolina chickadee — "Chick-a-dee-dee-dee."
» Common yellowthroat — "Witchety, witchety, witchety."
» House finch — "Zree."
» Northern flicker — "Wicka, wicka, wicka."
» American goldfinch — "Perchickaree" or "Babeee."
» White breasted nuthatch — "Yank, yank, yank."
» Blue jay — "Queedle, queedle, queedle."
» Barred owl — "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all."
» American crow — "Caw, caw, caw."
» Pileated woodpecker — "Kik, kik, kik."
For more bird mnemonics, visit Fernbank.
Bird songs
Some fun facts on bird songs and calls:
» A bird's song is a vocalization, often long and complex, used to attract mates and defend territories. A call is a sound, usually short and simple, that a bird uses to warn against predators, maintain social contact within flocks or communicate with mates.
» Many songbirds can sing up and down the musical scale because they have more throat muscles than other birds.
» Some songbirds, such as the Carolina chickadee, have only one song. The brown thrasher, Georgia's official state bird, has a repertoire of more than 1,500 songs, the largest known repertoire of any of our birds.
» In most songbird species, the males do all the singing. However, in about 40 species, females sing at least occasionally. A female cardinal sometimes "countersings" with her mate, answering his song with her own. A female red-wing blackbird may sing a simple song to defend her nest territory from other females who also belong to her mate's harem.
» Complex bird songs — such as those of the mockingbird — contain many similarities to human music, such as similar forms of organization and similar scales and phrasings.
» Although most birds sing for a purpose, there's some scientific evidence that birds may sing just for the joy of it, such as celebrating a gorgeous morning in May.
In the sky
The moon will be last quarter on Sunday, rising about midnight and setting around midday, says David Dundee, an astronomer with the Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum.
Venus shines brightly in the eastern predawn sky. Mars also is low in the east just before sunrise.
Both planets will appear near the moon Thursday morning. Jupiter rises out of the east at midnight and will appear near the moon Sunday night. Saturn rises out of the east before sunset.
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