Laura Erickson's For the Birds

The sweet, whistled Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody song (transcribed as Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada north of the border) is a lovely and characteristic sound of the north woods, but the song is apparently now considered old-fashioned, and a new tune, with more doublets than triplets or altered triplets, seems to be sweeping the nation in 2020. The birds are drawn to feeding stations during migration and winter, especially for white millet and sunflower. Half of all males and females have bright white stripes; half have tan stripes. The bird in the main recording is singing a triplet version of the new song, with the triplets closer to potato, potato, potato than to Peabody Peabody or Canada Canada.