One of the keys to learning bird language is to get familiar with the birds of your area.
Get to know the birds not just as a species (“look, a Robin!”), but as individuals (“hey, it’s Sally the Robin,
the one that is nesting in the hemlock tree in the back yard. . .”).
Through this kind of a deepening relationship, you’ll begin to absorb nuances of behavior that will teach you
a lot about that bird’s concerns, habits, and behaviors. Your connection to place will expand with each interaction.
This PBS video, “My Life As a Turkey”, which you can watch online here, is a great example
of building personal familiarity with a species. In the film, naturalist Joe Hutto raises a clutch of turkeys from egg to adulthood, and ends up forming
all kinds of amazing connections: how does a turkey react to a rattlesnake, versus a snake or a hawk? This is the kind of depth of understanding that comes through forming a relationship with the birds and other animals of one’s bioregion. The film is definitely worth watching!
