Vol 53, 2001 - Northern State University

'--- -r-VOICES OF AMAZONIAN BIRDS: Volume 1: Tinamous (Tinamidae)through Barbets (Capitonidae). 2000. Thomas S. Schulenberg, Curtis A.Marantz, and Peter H. English. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca. CD.99 tracks. $14.95Welcome to the sounds of the Amazonian jungle! Birders visiting that faraway ecosystem or those wishing to enjoy a totally unfamiliar auditoryexperience will appreciate this CD. The cuts are of extremely high quality andare not interrupted by distracting comments. The listener needs to consult theindex to know which call is being played. Over half the recordings were made bythe late Ted Parker, thus it is curious that he was not given a posthumous coauthorshipof the disk.This disk contains recordings of 99 Amazonian species. Ten tinamous, agrouse-like family more often heard than seen, are covered. Also included are tenhawks and falcons, the most astonishing of which is of a Laughing Falcon thatmust have been told an amazingly funny joke, since it laughs away for almostthree minutes. Also well-represented are the parrots, with 19 cuts, though theseseemed somewhat repetitious to me. Thus almost half the calls are from onlythree bird families, obviously many species have been omitted. Other standoutsinclude other-worldly sounding guans, and musical Marbled Wood-Quails.Almost as interesting as the birds are the non-intrusive background noises of fliesand other insects, reminding the jungle traveler of some of the travails of hissport.Dan Tallman, Northern State University,Aberdeen, SD 57401. 'SOUTH DAKOTA BIRD NOTES 53(3): 52 SEPTEMBER 2001