A lot of birds out there sound like dial-up modems, but not many have cool vintage lazer sounds like this guy. In phoneticized bird, he’s saying “purdy purdy purdy – whoit whoit whoit.”
Sometimes, he says “wheet” instead.
Here’s the full song.
I took a lot of artistic license with this one. In reality, birds hit all sorts of microtones that can’t be found in 12-tone Equal Temperament – the tuning system used by Western music from the 20th Century on. Also, due to their peculiar anatomy, birds constantly produce two sounds at the same time and combine them. The notes of a bird, are more like chords, spread out over a small band of adjacent frequencies. However, there are frequency spikes in these chords, and those are the notes I chose to denote.
The cardinal sings in the key of B Mixolydian. And sometimes switches to B Harmonic Minor.
Once in a while, in the midst of purdies and whoits, he’ll bust out his little triplet lick. The progression is pure jazz; modulating all over town.
To better hear the music involved, check out this rocking version of the cardinal by Boird Band.
