Note: The question originally posed to 10,000 Birds was “Is it true old birders can no longer hear the high pitched songs of goldcrests and of women? And that only one loss is troubling?” At the danger of being categorized as woke, we modified the question to the version in the title – even though this will probably lead to us never getting any funding from the current US Government.
Yes, unfortunately, it is true. Many older birders gradually lose the ability to hear high-pitched bird calls due to age-related hearing loss. This typically affects the higher frequencies first, which includes the calls of many birds, especially:
- Warblers
- Kinglets
- Waxwings
- Grasshopper Sparrows
- Creepers
While obviously, this hearing loss is not unique to birders, it can be particularly frustrating for them. Then again, Beethoven could not even hear his 9th Symphony anymore, while older birders can still see the birds.
The late, great Bruce Bowman of Michigan birding fame had actually built himself a device that would lower the frequencies of warbler calls – essentially a birding version of the ultrasound detector.
At 50+, bird calls are still okay but I really struggle with grasshoppers & crickets. Sad world we live in…