What does a guineafowl sound like? | ECOVIEWS

I am not a true birder. In a walk through the woods, true birders stop, raise a finger, alert others to the birdsong and then identify the bird. Sometimes they point out the bird itself, proving that indeed it was a painted bunting or orchard oriole or Swainson’s warbler.

Juliana Smith, Drew Lanham and Andrew Lydeard are experts who recently vindicated their identification skills. I looked suspicious when they identified the bird solely by its call, so they showed me the bird itself.

Further evidence of my absolute helplessness when it comes to identifying birdsongs is that I have never yet been the first one in a group to make an auditory identification of a native bird that wasn’t obvious to everyone.

When I note that a bunch of blue jays are shouting at a hawk or a Carolina wren is reminding the world that it has a loud voice, true birders are unimpressed and give me patronizing looks. Whereas I also recognize the sounds of crows, redbirds (which true birders call northern cardinals) and Canada geese, I take pride in having identified a bird that baffled an outstanding auditory birder.

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Wildlife biologist Mark Vukovich and I were walking through a field of young longleaf pine. Mark was identifying one kind of bird after another, first hearing it and then aiming his binoculars so I would know where to look.

I am long past worrying about being bested by a birder. I simply try to learn the birdsongs I hear and catch a glimpse of the birds my companions point out. Suddenly, Mark stopped, gave the familiar head motion of someone trying to home in on a sound, followed by a confused look. He said he did not recognize the birdcall.

At first, I did not even try to isolate the sound he heard from any others since I wouldn’t know a blue grosbeak from a bluebird, both of which nested around the field. Then I recognized the call. It sounded like someone was trying to start an old car with either a low battery, a faulty starter or both, with occasional chortles and chirps thrown in for variety.

I looked at Mark, listened again to be sure, and said, “Guineas.” After thinking for a second, he nodded. He then asked how I recognized the sound.

I explained my ornithological technique for identifying a bird from Africa that happened to be running around in a group of a dozen at the edge of the field we were in. I had seen flocks, more properly called herds, of helmeted guineafowl in South Africa moving alongside paths or edges of open land.

The big gray birds with a sprinkling of white spots are well known as social beings that stay together and lay edible eggs in secret communal nests. They are noted for their endless (and annoying) repertoire of vocalizations as they raise the alarm anytime they become aware of nearby intruders — including foxes, snakes, dogs, cats and automobiles.

Country folks who keep these domestic fowl know they make great “watchdogs.” Judy Greene told me she was attacked by a defensive guinea hen while trying to extract a keet (baby) whose leg was stuck under a root.

I had to admit to Mark that the reason I recognized the call was because I knew the neighbor in the adjoining property had guineafowl that often strayed onto the field we were in, acting just like they do in South Africa as they roam around farmlands of the Southeast. I had noticed them that morning when I drove by. Nonetheless, I got credit for the new bird on our list, my only coup

in the presence of a true birder. The incident does serve as a reminder: You do not have to be a trained expert to make ecological or behavioral observations. Who knows? The next time you’re outside, maybe you’ll be lucky and the birder you’re with won’t ever have heard a pigeon.

Whit Gibbons is professor of zoology and senior biologist at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. If you have an environmental question or comment, email ecoviews@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Guineafowl: What do they sound like? What a professor has to say