This holiday season a special and unusual album topped the charts in Australia. Surprisingly, it had no musical tracks – just bird calls. But not just any bird calls. BirdLife Australia put together recordings of 53 of the rarest birds in Australia offering a unique immersion into the highly unusual and often surprising sounds of birds found nowhere else on the planet — all of whom are threatened with extinction. Here’s a wonderful animated preview you can watch and hear some of the extraordinary bird calls in this transcendent album. The album is available for sale and every purchase benefits the work being done by BirdLife Australia to save these birds. The stunning and sometimes haunting calls are inspiring to listen to, and a poignant reminder of the loss when a species disappears. This article in Forbes has more info on the project and the birds. The holidays may be over, but listening to this album will put some light and hope in your New Year.