WolfQuest

I've been working in trenches on some of the new nature updates. You might notice the new birds and bird sounds and wonder what kinds they are.

Four new birds were added to 2.7.2 to provide ambient visual interest. These birds flit around all the maps and most habitats, depending on their species. Note the four new birds have basic animations that provide visual interest rather than completely accurate, species-specific behaviors. We chose these four because they are common throughout the habitats and seasons.

American robin (Turdus migratorius)
A familiar thrush with a bright red-orange belly and brown back. Male and female American robins look a lot alike so the 2.7.2 animation could be both. They are very active in the day foraging for worms, caterpillars and berries. We also added audio of the American robin song. SONG and ALARM CALL
Western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)
This brightly colored,medium-sized American songbird found throughout the West. We added a male western tanager, with its bright yellow body, black wings and orange head to provide an interesting bird with bright colors. We did not include the duller colored female. Western tanagers live in open woods particularly among evergreens. In WolfQuest they flit around nearer to the ground as general animations. But in real life western tanagers tend to stay higher up in the canopy, filling the woods with their song and calls. They eat insects and fruits. Its song was also included. SONG
House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
This is a species of Old World sparrow that is invasive, meaning it isn’t originally from North America. However, house sparrows very adaptable and are now found all over, including Yellowstone, and so we included them in 2.7.2. There are lots of native species of sparrows, in Yellowstone Park too, so that little brown bird you see could easily be one of them. Listen for audio of song sparrows, chipping sparrows and white-crowned sparrows in 2.7.2. Sparrows eat seed and insects. SONG

Mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli)
This small songbird found throughout Yellowstone National Park. Males and females look very similar. They eat insects and conifer seeds. In 2.7.2 they only flit around for visual interest. But in real life they are often seen in the branches of conifers hanging upside down and hammering seeds open with their little beaks. Their song "chick-adee-dee-dee" is also included in 2.7.2. SONG
If you would like to learn more about these birds and lots more, two great websites are :

Audubon Guide to North American Birds:
http://www.audubon.org/bird-guide

Cornell University Lab of Ornithology's All about Birds Guide:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search.aspx

*******
RAVENS NEW and IMPROVED!

Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Ravens come to life in 2.7.2 -- namely by landing on elk carcasses and consuming them in competition with wolves.! One study https://www.allaboutbirds.org/dinner-gu ... -at-kills/ showed that ravens can eat twice their body weight daily and a bunch of them can easily steal half of a kill from wolves. So don't wait to dine!

The game also takes a step further to represent the symbiotic relationship between wolves and ravens. Ravens in the WQ sky have long indicated the presence of an elk carcass; now they also mark the locations of live elk herds, as the birds wait for wolves to come along and kill one for them. Looking for elk? Look up! SONG
*********
Birds of the Soundscape
Here are the birds you will hear as you play the game. Different birds will be heard depending on habitat, season and time of day. These are all birds found in Yellowstone National Park.

1. Western tanager SONG and see post: All about the new birds of 2.7.2
2. American robin SONG and ALARM CALL see post: All about the new birds of 2.7.2
3. Mountain chickadee SONG and see post: All about the new birds of 2.7.2
4. House sparrow SONG and see post: All about the new birds of 2.7.2
5. Song sparrow SONG
6. Chipping sparrow SONG
7. White-crowned sparrow SONG
8. Common raven SONG and see post: All about the new birds of 2.7.2
9. Red-winged blackbird SONG (SolitaryHowl)
10. Canada goose SONG (SolitaryHowl and a later i.d. by Ever-green)
11. Great horned owl SONG (wolfloversk)
12. Yellow warbler SONG (SolitaryHowl)
13. Dark-eyed junco SONG (Celestial-Howl)
14. Hairy woodpecker DRUMMING (Celestial-Howl and SolitaryHowl both had good woodpecker guesses)
15. Mountain bluebird SONG (Celestial-Howl)
16. Clark's nutcracker SONG (Celestial-Howl)
17. Warbling vireo SONG (SolitaryHowl)
18. Ruffed grouse SOUND (Quivira )
19. Wilson's snipe SOUND
20. Western meadowlark SONG (SolitaryHowl)
21. Dusky flycatcher SONG
22. Lazuli bunting SONG
23. Pine sisken SONG
24. Northern flicker SONG
25. Ruby-crowned kinglet SONG
26. Cassin's finch SONG

If I can add on to this excellent (and informative) post:

You can also hear the Red Winged Blackbird's call in 2.7.2 as well. It goes conk-la-ree! Its one of my favourite birds, and it reminds me of home.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red ... ird/sounds

This is a fantastic idea! Thank you for posting all this info Pepper, it's a great way to show players new features and help them understand how they fit into the greater YNP system. If possible, it's definitely something we should keep up with.

Kirave wrote:

Thanks for sharing this information and those websites with us! It's great to know more about the birds that have been added, and I find it really cool that you've gone through the effort to write this up for animals that were intended simply to provide visual interest.

I have to say I wasn't expecting this post at all (though it's definitely welcome and appreciated!), are posts like these something we can look forward to with future updates as well?

Thanks, Kirave! I am looking forward to posting other nature updates.

So I added some info about the raven improvements in my original post.

I loved that SolitaryHowl heard a red-winged blackbird!

Which other birds can you name? See the forum post Name the Bird Sounds CHALLENGE! In a few weeks, I will post the full list above.

BIRDS. And more accurate corvids, joy! Thanks for posting all this, now I'm DEFINITELY getting 2.7

I totally forgot to mention, but there's also Canada geese honking away sometimes in 2.7.2. I'm so used to hearing them around here I tune them out, haha!

fiftyshadesoffluff wrote:They don't really sing, but owl hoots are in the audio too. Perhaps include them as well?

Yes! Can you name the kind of owl? See the forum post Name the Bird Sounds CHALLENGE! In a few weeks, I will post the full list here.

SolitaryHowl wrote:I totally forgot to mention, but there's also Canada geese honking away sometimes in 2.7.2. I'm so used to hearing them around here I tune them out, haha!

While we were working on this, I was often confused when real geese flew by Eduweb world headquarters!

Pepper wrote:

fiftyshadesoffluff wrote:They don't really sing, but owl hoots are in the audio too. Perhaps include them as well?

Yes! Can you name the kind of owl? See the forum post Name the Bird Sounds CHALLENGE! In a few weeks, I will post the full list here.

wolfloversk guessed it! Great horned owl.

Hm...I thought I heard a red bellied woodpecker?