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Audio Quiz: Can you guess these 10 Southern California bird calls?
Some birders can identify a bird by the call or song it makes. It's an important tool for wildlife ecologists to have when they count birds, because it's often hard to see the tiny creatures.
The knowledge required is daunting, since birds can have many different songs, calls, chips or warning screeches. They may also only emit part of a trill instead of the full call.
Try your hand at identifying bird calls. The following birds are known to visit or live in Southern California's mountains. How well can you recognize them?
Follow the links below the quiz to learn more about the birds. Also, don't forget to share your score with KPCC. You can even... tweet it, perhaps?
Learn more about the birds in this quiz:
- Northern Flicker
- Lesser Goldfinch
- Spotted Towhee
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Western Scrub-Jay
- Steller’s Jay
- Wrentit
- Acorn Woodpecker
- Black Phoebe
- California Thrasher
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Black-headed Grosbeak
- Purple Finch
- Bewick’s Wren
Bird audio provided courtesy of the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Click here to learn more about how the drought has reduced birdsong in the San Gabriel Valley.