This is bird note.

A lilting brightly whistled song erupts from a source hidden by the leaves of a tall alder tree.

The song continues, but where the heck is the singer?

At last, a bird appears atop the alder, still singing. It's a stocky orange bird with a black

head, a large, thick bill, and bold white blazes on its black wings.

You've just found a male black-headed gross beak.

Its song rings out from May well into summer, one of the most distinctive bird voices of the

west and southwest. The song has been

described as that of a drunken or scat-sitting Robin. It does slur some of its notes, and the song

does have a syncopated feel to it. Why not draw your own conclusion? Here's the lovely but more

methodical song of the American Robin.

And now, the up-tempo performance of the black-headed gross beak.

Listen for the rollicking song of the black-headed gross beak this summer,

especially in streamside woods.

Its singer could have come all the way from southern Mexico.

For Bird Note, I'm Michael Stein.