Tanagers, Buntings and Grosbeaks : alarm and contact calls

The familiar call of the Northern Cardinal is a tik, given as an alarm (May, PA).










With increased agitation, it is given at a more rapid rate (Apr, PA).











A higher version (June, NJ).












(Nov, PA).











Here the often doubled high-pitched calls are by a female and seem to be in response to a hawk, as a sharp-shinned hawk flew by at 125s (louder callsby male, Mar, PA)

Another common call sounds more like a tsik (Oct, PA)


(Nov, PA)












These rising calls by Northern Cardinals can sound similar to some of the rising warbler calls, for example Ovenbird.

In this case some of the calls were two or three-parted (Sep, PA).










This lower call was in response to a cat (Aug, PA)












The calls by this agitated female cardinal include the above lower call in rapid series, and a soft, low whip at 7, 9 and 20s (July, PA).




















These notes were given in rapid series by either a female or juvenile (July, PA).










The took call is a quiet call given in close encounters, as when approaching the nest with food or in courtship feeding. In this case, it was birds at a feeder (Jan, PA).

Two birds are chasing each other (Apr, PA).

took call at 2kHz









The took call is associated with a soft high call. Here a male and female were perched close to each other. I couldn't determine which bird was calling (Dec, PA).










Scolding call by a male towards another male at a feeder (Feb, PA).




The alarm call of the Indigo Bunting is a dry twik (female, Jul, NJ).











Another example on breeding grounds (Jun, NJ).











Indigo Buntings have a higher, metallic pink call, given when in a high state of agitation (male, June, NJ).











The Blue Grosbeak call is fairly similar in sound and sonagram to the call of the White-crowned Sparrow, but a little lower and less metallic (July, DE).

(May, NJ)











(Aug, NJ)












The Dickcissel alarm call is a whit, recalling Willow Flycatcher (Oct, PA).




The Rose-breasted Grosbeak has a unique squeaky contact call, it sounds like a sneaker in a gym. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak also has a wide range of other calls that are given during nocturnal migration (Oct, NJ).













The alarm call of the Scarlet Tanager is the well-known chick-burr (May, PA). The chick-burr call (sometimes abbreviated to just the "chick") is also incorporated into the dawn song, see
Tanagers, Buntings and Grosbeaks : songs.













The chick call is similar to the chup call of Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers but more forceful (Sep, PA).

(Sep, PA)

(female, with Red-eyed Vireo, May, PA).




Same call, by a male collecting food for a Brown-headed Cowbird fledgling, heard in the background (June, PA)











Scarlet Tanager female on nest being fed by male, contact/begging calls (hu-dee call of Evans and O'Brien, more or less identical to juvenile begging call, May, PA).






Another example of this call at dawn by a perched migrant. This call is the same as the begging call of fledglings and is similar to some calls of Veery (Sep, PA)




Summer Tanager pi-ti-tuck alarm call (May, NJ).











Alarm call followed by a pew call (May, NJ).