This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”

This singer is a little chunky compared to the other early spring migrating warblers. Males are mostly yellow with blueish wings and both sexes have strong wingbars and a robust beak that’s capable of tackling seeds. You’re likely to hear one singing their rich trilling song from high in a pine tree. This is the pine warbler.

Many a hopeful birder has spent a long time trying to get their eyes on a pine warbler… that ended up being a chipping sparrow. They sound similar, but the key difference is in their tone. I think of them as playing the same song but on different instruments. Here’s the Chipper’s drier and more mechanical song. and now the pine’s with a richer and more organic sound.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW