Songs of Disappearance

    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 […]

Why We Didn’t Know Female Birds Sing

When you started learning to identify birds, which plumage and songs did you learn? Most likely it was males. In some respects, it makes sense as males defend territories with their vibrant songs and their breeding plumage is usually more unique and flashier than female plumage for a reason – females need to be inconspicuous […]

BirdNote: Song Sparrows In Your Brush Pile

For me, it’s officially spring when Song Sparrows start singing! Song Sparrows are found throughout the United States and into Southern Canada. To bring them into your garden, plant thick, low vegetation, or create a brush pile. This sparrow is celebrated – and named – for its singing. Without its melodious song, this furtive bird could be […]

Voices For Birds!

Birds are fun! Get psyched for birding with Birdlife International’s super fun video featuring birders from all over the world as the voices of their favorite birds. Take a break and watch – it’ll totally make your day… Image courtesy of Birdlife International

BirdNote: Wood-wrens – a Tropical Duet

Some deep forest birds sing duets together that sound like just a single bird singing. This duetting where the bird songs are so closely related is called antiphonal song, and it’s possible to hear the different songs when the sound is slowed down. Check out this beautiful duetting and hear how its done from BirdNote. […]

Why Are Birds So Quiet Now?

For months now, early every morning the songs and calls would Molting Northern Cardinal Photo Credit: Deborah Rivel start – sometimes before dawn – and the raucous, beautiful and energetic bird sounds from birds like Carolina Wrens and this Northern Cardinal continued filling the soundscape until sundown.  Then one day….suddenly the yard was oddly quiet.  While some juvenile birds were still […]

Sparrows Going Viral

White-throated Sparrow Photo Credit: Deborah Rivel White-throated Sparrows are familiar to many of us.  Seen at some point during the year in most parts of North America, they are well-known for their easily identifiable calls. The sound of “Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada” wafting in the breeze is a sure sign that you are in the […]

BirdNote: Bobolinks and Grasslands

Male Bobolinks are first to arrive on their breeding grounds in the grasslands. Why are there fewer Bobolinks than in decades past? Probably because the landscape of North America has changed so much. Bobolinks originally nested on native prairies of the Midwest and southern Canada. Much of the land where they nested has come under intense cultivation. Grassland conservation […]

City Birds You May Not Know Are Around You

Common Yellow-throat Illustration by David Sibley When cities are quiet, we can easily hear the birds around us.  This illuminating article from the New York Times helps us learn about 13 birds we live in close proximity with but may never have seen.  With stunning images by David Sibley and informational sonograms of bird calls from Donald Kroodsma, this article […]

BOOK REVIEW: Birdsong For The Curious Naturalist: Your Guide to Listening, by Donald Kroodsma

Released just as spring migration is starting, this timely book bringsunderstanding and learning birdsong to a new level. Don Kroodsma is a world-renown authority on birdsong. And apart from understanding it he knows the positive effect of an immersive nature experience. Birdsong For the Curious Naturalist opens with the line “birdsong fills our lives with beauty and […]

Get a Headstart on Spring By Learning Bird Calls Now

Gray Catbird/Photo Credit: Deborah Rivel Up your birding ID game this spring by starting now to learn to ID birds by their songs. Often birds are only heard, and by recognizing their calls you can easily add more birds to your list. Not all birds have calls that are instantly recognizable – like the unmistakable call […]

Owling 101

Late autumn and winter are great times to look for owls.   Owls are nocturnal so the best time of day to start looking for them is right around sunset when they start getting active. Unless you already know where an owl roosts during the day, they are seriously difficult to find in daylight when they […]