Train Your Ears to Listen for These Common Birdsongs
Birdsongs are as complex as they are beautiful, containing distinct elements like pitch, tone, rhythm, and repetition. Each species also makes many different vocalizations—both songs and calls—thanks to a special, two-sided voice box called a syrinx. According to the National Audubon Society, birdsongs generally tend to be longer and patterned, while calls are short. Different calls can mean different things, “and on any morning, there can be dozens of species singing in your backyard,” says Dr. Mike Webster, Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library and Professor of Ornithology, Dept. of Neurobiology & Behavior.
Given all these factors, learning to identify species by their songs can be a little daunting for novice birders. The best place to begin? Your own backyard. “Start by learning just two or three songs of birds you can see,” says Dr. Webster. “Then, move forward by adding one call at a time.”
Below are 24 birds you're likely to spot depending on your region of the country, along with song samples shown as spectrograms—graphs that reflect the time, pitch, and volume of a birdcall as it’s played—from Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library. Spectrograms help birders of all levels learn songs and calls by stimulating the visual part of the brain while listening to the bird sounds. (Learn more about how they work and test your ID skills via Cornell's Bird Song Hero matching game.)
And don't worry if it takes a while to hear the difference between a sparrow and a wren. “I often say birding is really an excuse to get outside,” says Dr. Webster. “So just take your time, enjoy listening, and the learning will come.”
Listen to the American Crow
Listen to the American Goldfinch
Listen to the American Robin
Listen to Anna's Hummingbird
Listen to the Black-billed Magpie
Listen to the Blue Jay
Listen to the Northern Cardinal
Listen to the Black-capped Chickadee
Listen to the Common Grackle
Listen to the Dark-eyed Junco
Listen to the Downy Woodpecker
Listen to the European Starling
Listen to the Hairy Woodpecker
Listen to the House Finch
Listen to the House Sparrow
Listen to the House Wren
Listen to the Mourning Dove
Listen to the Northern Mockingbird
Listen to the Red-bellied Woodpecker
Listen to the Steller's Jay
Listen to the Song Sparrow
Listen to the Spotted Towhee
Listen to the Tufted Titmouse
Listen to the White-breasted Nuthatch
Credits: All illustrations by Kate Dolamore.
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