You may have heard or read about Maine Audubon’s “Community Bird Walks,” that are being sponsored by the Penobscot Valley Chapter throughout May.

A friend and fellow co-worker of mine, Marguerite Roosen, attended last Saturday’s walk, which canvassed part of the Bangor City Forest. This was only her second outing as a bird-watcher; the first, as I recall, was her participation during a winter bird count (that really said something about her seriousness in learning about birds!). Since she is a beginning birder, I was interested to hear her impressions and insight, but I also had a more personal interest in her feedback. On May 17, it’s my turn, along with my co-leader, Ron Cote, as we’ll be introducing people to the birds at Cascade and Saxl Parks on State Street in Bangor.

Last weekend’s walk (which I am kicking myself for missing), was led by Ron Joseph, a very experienced birder who also happens to be a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist. He leads numerous bird walks and bird-and-wildlife related trips, so I had no doubt this excursion would be a success. A whopping total of 35 people participated, quite a large group for such a venture.

Marguerite did say the walk was good, but found herself overwhelmed by the number of people. This isn’t to fault anyone, as I doubt such a large turnout was expected; nor is it to discourage people from attending future walks (especially since all other walks will be facilitated by a leader and co-leader). But I started to think about how a beginning birder could get a better handle on identification while out on one of these trips. I thought a preliminary introduction to the birds we may encounter might be helpful, as well as a suggestion on what to listen for.

Some of the birds you’ll encounter will be those that you are already familiar with: blue jays, cardinals, chickadees. If you aren’t already familiar with them, don’t hesitate to speak up. When dealing with creatures that move rapidly through leafy landscapes, sometimes you can only rely on sound to identify them. Blue jays are accomplished mimics – they can imitate the calls of three different raptors: the broad-winged hawk, the red-tailed hawk, and the red-shouldered hawk. Cardinals and robins have more than one song in their repertoires. And chickadees have a whistled “fee-bee” spring song that fools a lot of people.

A bird many may not be familiar with is the rose-breasted grosbeak; there is a good chance this bird may be seen at all of the walks in the program. It is about the size of the robin, with a black upper body and head, and white underbody with a startling splash of red across its chest. Its song resembles the robin’s “cheerio-cheeriup,” phrases, but it isn’t as monotonous or repetitive; it seems to be fuller and more rambling. The Peterson Field Guide describes it as “a robin who has taken voice lessons.” It has a tell-tale, metallic “chip” note that it intersperses throughout its singing; this is a dead giveaway.

Another possibility is a scarlet tanager. This bird is cardinal-sized and a solid, bright red color with coal-black wings and tail. It, too, has a song resembling the robin’s, but sounds hoarse – “like a robin with a sore throat.” Again, the call note – which sounds like “chip-burr” – is the clincher.

Then, of course, there is the dazzling but sometimes bewildering world of warblers. These colorful Neotropical songbirds are much smaller – less than sparrow-sized – and harder to see among the foliage. Identifying them by ear may be the only way.

While being coached by one of the trip leaders, you’ll want to note if the song has one, two, or three parts; if it ascends or descends; or if it has a phonetic representation. For example, the chestnut-sided warbler has a rapid, emphatic song that sounds as if it is saying, “pleased, pleased, pleased to MEET-cha!” The yellow warbler sounds as if it is saying, “sweet, sweet, little more sweet.” And the black-throated green warbler sings, “trees, trees – murmuring trees.”

This is just a brief primer – I could fill pages with the description of bird songs. If you’re interested in doing some homework beforehand, refer to the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds, which in my opinion is the best book for beginning bird-watchers. Also, there are Peterson “Birding by Ear,” cassette tapes and CDs. Your local library may have them to lend (Fogler Library at the University of Maine in Orono has them). If you have access to a computer equipped with speakers, you can also refer to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Web site (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/), which has visual and audio identification cues.

But hey – if you’d rather just come out and enjoy the birds, that’s fine too!

Call the Fields Pond Nature Center at 989-2591 for a complete list of bird walks and events.

BDN bird columnist Chris Corio can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net