This is bird note. Listen for a moment to this remarkable drumming of a roughed grouse.

The resulting percussion, produced by a rapid beating of the wings, is a vivid example

of a non-vocal or instrumental bird sound. Birds communicate with a fascinating array

of instrumental sounds, and nearly all are made by their feathers or bills. A woodpecker's

territorial drumming is a familiar example. The bird wraps its bill briskly against the

most resonant nearby object, which is sometimes the metal vent pipe on your roof.

The male Wilson's snipe creates a magical flute-like sound in flight, fluttering its wings

to direct the flow of air over outspread tail feathers.

Listen to this American crow. It makes this clattering sound by rattling the edges of its

bill together, and an American-bittering's comical burps are, well, burps, made by swallowing

air and then releasing it. For bird note, I'm Michael Stein.