Column: That bird with the quiet, off-beat call is learning to sing

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 13, 2023

One of the great joys of spring in Maine is hearing the song of a newly arrived white-throated sparrow. It’s distinctive poor-sam-peabody-peabody-peabody (or as our northern neighbors prefer, my-sweet-Canada-Canada-Canada) evokes the Maine woods. We are treated to this song all summer long. I had to grin when I recently heard a song that sounded vaguely like a white-throated sparrow but with a certain hesitancy and missed notes. What I was hearing was a young male, born just a few months ago, learning to sing. ~ Herb Wilson