Wow, what a fantastic piece of writing, well done!

I teach beginners, and describe learning calls as like learning a language. It’s a reaffirmation process, you have to practice and use it! It’s all about familiarity and exposure. The majority of Aussies know what the Australian Magpie sounds like, it’s a common bird and people hear it every day.

I love the use of words to describe calls. In Australia, our Noisy Pitta says ‘walk to work’, the Pilotbird says ‘I make a guinea a week’, and the Willie Wagtail says ‘sweet pretty creature’.

I wrote a piece about birdwatching for beginners. In it, I talked about a newbie looking at a page in the field guide showing six little brown birds that all look similar. They said “I can’t tell them apart!” The only response is that they all make different calls!