The first thing to say about this voice is that I originally believed it to be an expression of the joy a bird experiences when bathing. In fact, I held dear to this interpretation for some years until very recently I made a series of observations involving examples of the ‘joy’ voice where the birds in question most certainly were NOT having a good time. Let me unpack this a little before going on to some of the call recordings I have below.
So, as mentioned, for a long time I learned to associate a particular type of call (typically a series of short, repetitive mono-syllabic chirps) with a couple of species of birds using out bird bath. The first species to get my attention with these shenanigans was a grey fantail. Later this was followed by a rufous fantail and then an eastern whipbird. So far, these are the only 3 species I can conclusively say make a distinctive chirping call while bathing. And it isn’t just when bathing in a bird bath. Several times now I’ve heard the call while in the bush and tracked it down to a fantail splashing in a pool of water at the edge of a creek or river.
Now, it is firmly established that many species of birds deliberately and consciously engage in play and appear very much to enjoy having fun. The internet is replete with adorable short videos of magpies, various parrots, owls and assorted corvids playing silly-buggers with family pets, rolling about on the floor with them or exploiting their superior intelligence to taunt some poor poodle. Some crows and ravens even engage in deliberate snow-skiing play on the roofing of steeply sloping houses, sliding down the icy incline on their backs again and again. So surely birds have a unique voice for joy then right?
Well yeah…probably they do, but these calls I was thinking as joyful turned out to not be anything like joy. The moment of truth came one day when I was at a very long (5hr) sit spot in Dorrigo National Park. Suddenly, close by my spot I heard two rufous fantails both launch into their “bathtime joy” voice, but instead of seeing them splashing in water, the calls were coming from higher up in the canopy. Ok, weird (I thought). Peering through the foliage it quickly became evident that the fantails were actually super stressed about something. It turned that something was a green catbird (a known nestling eater) and it didn’t take me long to find their nest nearby.
Since then, an eerily similar scenario has played out on several further occasions with both grey fantails and eastern yellow robins (catbirds were the villain in all cases). To me then, the calls are a type of preliminary to full-blown alarm. Until I get more observational evidence from the field, I’m going to say it’s a type of vigilance vocalisation
Even though the birds in these audio recording did ‘appear to be having fun’ I actually think they were feeling vulnerable and exposed (to predators) while dipping in and out of the tranquil waters. If I’m correct, the call is an expression of their nervous anxiety or vigilance and may even be intended for a mate that is waiting not far away. Almost as if to say; “ok so I’m going to take a dip now so can you keep an eye out for bad guys?” It’s my working theory anyhow.
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