Subjective interpretation of animal calls can mislead even experienced observers

Evidence

One is apt to impute a disconsolate tone to their honkings, and to jump to the conclusion that they are broken-hearted widowers, or mothers hunting lost children. The seasoned ornithologist knows, however, that such subjective interpretation of bird behavior is risky. I long tried to keep an open mind on the question. — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 90

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the listening discipline in Soundscape and the care against hasty read of landscape disturbance history in ECST 3980. — connects to: Highly trained listeners can repeat subjective judgments with remarkable consistency; Whether a natural sound counts as noise depends on the perceiving species — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 1242; Whether a sound counts as noise depends on subjective interpretation, not acoustics — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 1025

Broader Connections

• Highly trained listeners can repeat subjective judgments with remarkable consistency #contradicts (0.78)
• Whether a natural sound counts as noise depends on the perceiving species #expands (0.72) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1242
• Whether a sound counts as noise depends on subjective interpretation, not acoustics #corroborates (0.72) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1025