b'Matters heart of thematterThingsthat Matter Since 1990 Tweets and CheepsFeaturing Local People, Places and PUBLISHER Interpreting the sounds of my back yard& EDITOR IN CHIEFEllen Donker BY ELLEN DONKERASSOCIATEEDITORAnne MandellThe tufted titmouse SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER is a fan of our sun-Rachael Entine flower seeds.ADVERTISING CONSULTANTSRene ConlonH. Leslie GilmanAmy Power GRAPHIC DESIGN W henIwalkoutofmyget song sparrows, white-throated sparrows and house Ellen DonkerGIFT GUIDE EDITOR house,Imusedtohear- sparrows. I still cant tell them apart visually, but I can Anne Mandell ing the soundtrack of theidentify the song sparrows most lovely voice and the suburbs. This time of yearmelancholy whistle of the white-throated sparrow. COPY EDITORS tendstobequieter,withNow Ive taken another step in my birding activity af-Charles Hammer mostoftheleavesblownter my daughter, Madeline, encouraged me to join Cor-Tia Swanson to the curb and the lawnnell Labs Project FeederWatch. Its a citizen science pro-CONTRIBUTORS mowers silenced.gram to help scientists understand long-term trends and Claire Berrios, Adrianna Donat, Here and there is the shuffle of neighbors walkingchanges in bird distribution and abundance. As partici-Donny Levit, Amy Lynn-Cooper, their dogs, getting in their daily run or chatting with apants, we simply count the bird species in our back yard Ilysse Rimalovski, Tia Swanson, toddler as they push their stroller down the sidewalk.two consecutive days a week from November through Julia Maloof Verderosa, Allison Weiss Once school lets out, neighbor kids take to their tram- April and enter them in the app.polines or swing sets and review the day with their sib- Joining this project set us on a path to expand our lings or friends. offerings beyond the sunflower seeds we routinely pro-Underneaththishumofhumanityarethecheep- vided to attract the more vibrant birds of the air. I filled cheeps and tweets of birds, something Ive listened tosome neglected feeders with nuts, regular bird seed and my whole life yet rarely paid much attention to. Instead,suet cakes. We also filled a ceramic tire swing thats sus-Please address all correspondence to: Ive spent more time learning to identify birds by sight.pended from a small oak and added water to an old bird Visual Impact Advertising, Inc. Of course, I knew the sounds that the usual suspectsbath, especially critical during this drought.P.O. Box 198 make, such as blue jays, cardinals and sparrows. But re- On the days that we fill the feeders, our back yard Maplewood, NJ 07040 cently, I became intrigued by the loud call of a bird thatis a frenzy of bird gorging activity. I was beginning to 973-763-4900 sounded like it was saying cheeseburger, cheeseburger.wonder whether we needed an air traffic control tower. I mattersmagazine.comThanks to the Merlin Bird ID app, I found out that itmay pare back the number of feeders or consider a sec-info@mattersmagazine.com was the Carolina wren, a small bird that I rarely see butond job to pay for the volume of seed and nuts the birds Matters Magazine is owned and publishedoften hear. This led me to sit outside with the app openconsume. Certainly, they dont rely on me for survival. by Visual Impact Advertising, Inc., P.O. Box 198 Maplewood, NJ 07040. Mattersand record the sounds of my back yard when I heardBut it is fun to record their comings and goings while Magazine is free, with editions direct maileda lot of activity. As Merlin hears a bird, it shows thecontributing to some good research. I also can continue seven times a year to the residents of Maple- most likely match.to refine my listening skills. wood and South Orange and distributed to businesses and surrounding communitiesOver time, Ive memorized some of the varied lan- My bird language repertoire is still fairly narrow, but totaling 16,000. Subscriptions are availableguages spoken from the trees, shrubs and fences of myknowing a handful of their sounds has added a beautiful to non-residents for $30 (U.S.) $40 (Foreign)yard. Northern cardinals have a clipped call but a beau- dimension to my forays outside. Im hearing new con-annually. No part of the publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced withouttiful drawn-out song. Red-bellied woodpeckers give aversations, even if I cant see whos doing the talking. writtenpermissionfromVisualImpactsqueaky chirp-chirp, often from the Norway maple inCome spring, I will wait for the day when I can close Advertising, Inc. the corner of our back yard. The sounds are all different,my eyes and hear the tender high-pitched tune of a gold-CIRCULATION VERIFIED BY and Ive had some surprises. finch and know theyve arrived for their summer vaca-U.S. POSTAL RECEIPTS. For instance, I thought I knew the chatter of a spar- tion. Then Ill set out my Nyjer seed feeder so I can see READ & RECYCLE row, one of the most common birds in my yard. Buttheir brilliant form and be satisfied to know a little bit wait: theres not just one type of sparrow. Here in NJ, wemore about my corner of the world.8/ matters magazine / holiday 2024'