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Over the past few springs, Jim has been helping me learn to bird by ear — to separate the robinlike chirrups of a rose-breasted grosbeak or a scarlet tanager from, um, a robin — which, once you get tourist-proficient in the language, is like a giant aural map unfolding in front of you.

The rose-breasted grosbeak is there too, and the red-eyed vireo, and the indigo bunting.

The first one I logged was a rose-breasted grosbeak; number 50 was a golden-crowned kinglet.

Adults of their species range across the color spectrum, from the indigo bunting to the redhead duck, rose-breasted grosbeak and red-legged seriema.

Ward compares speedy peregrine falcons to sky Lamborghinis, and the hard-to-describe call of the rose-breasted grosbeak to the squeak of a basketball shoe on hardwood.