This is bird note. Bird songs come in many shapes and sizes. When a sage thrasher

perched atop a clump of sagebrush tips its head back to sing the notes rush forth.

What you just heard is a mere snippet. Sage thrasers often sing non-stop for at

least two minutes and can go on for more than 20. In Stark comparison, a brewer's blackbird

singing to the world from a top offense post sounds frusk. One full song from a brewer's

blackbird lasts barely a second. Amazingly, a Henslow's sparrow values brevity even more.

That was it. In case you missed it here it is again.

But whether long, drawn out or short and sweet, bird songs are all about the same things,

territory and breeding, claiming a space and attracting a mate. Once those are sorted out,

further singing by the male is all about keeping his territory intact.

As for the sage thrasher, he's still going strong. For bird note, I'm Mary McCann.