No matter where we live, the songs of birds brighten up our days.
This is nature’s orchestra at its best. The early morning chirps of a
robin or chickadee delight us, and the sound of a honking flock of migrating
geese inspire us. There is an incredible diversity. Some birds
have their songs encoded at birth, while others learn their songs, either from
their father, or from birds around them. Some of those that learn their
songs only learn when they are young, and others keep learning their entire
life. Some species may sing the same song but have different dialects
from one area to another. Some birds such as the Brown thrasher, may
have hundreds or thousands of different songs, while others such as the Common
Yellowthroat, may have as little as one.
While bird watching is enjoyable, learning the songs and calls of birds
adds an exciting dimension to it. Being able to identify unseen birds
from a distance, when they are hidden in the bush or a wooded habitat, by
listening to their songs and calls is very satisfying. Many people do
what is called spishing, where they make a (spis) sound with their lips.
Another technique is kissing the back of your hand to make a squeaking sound.
Some songbirds such as chickadees
and warblers will come to check
out the sound.
A Bit of History
The first record of bird song recording was by Ludwig Koch in 1889. At the
time Ludwig was eight years old. He recorded the Indian Shama, a member
of the Thrush family. Many years later after Dr. Koch moved to Britain
from Germany he worked with E.M Nicholson. E.M Nicholson became the director
of the Nature Conservancy creating the book “Songs of Wild Birds.
Dr. Koch’s sound recordings became the base for the BBC’s natural history
library. As you can imagine the recording equipment at that time was
very cumbersome.
Communication of Bird Songs and Calls
Songs and calls play a very important role in the live of birds. With
all the ways birds communicate sound is probably the most important.
Because birds do not have a strong sense of smell they rely on vision and
sound. Sound is ideal for low light or over long distances.
Basic Difference between Songs and Calls
Songs
Songs are more musical, and complex then calls. Songs are usually
only produced by the male. Males often learn these songs from their dads or by
listening to nearby males. Because they learn these musical phrases regional
dialects are often developed. A male’s song may get richer, and more varied
as he gets more experience with age. This gives him a bit of an edge over
younger birds. When the female chooses a mate she will evaluate his health and
maturity by this song. With most birds the song can be associated with
breeding. The male is singing to find or communicate with his mate and to
claim and protect his territory by warning other males to stay away.
Social bonding of pairs may also be aided with songs.
The majority of the singing is in early morning. The birds will be
quiet during the middle of the day, and start up again in late afternoon,
although there are some species that will sing all day long.
Song birds such as warblers may have different songs for attracting mates
than they do for protecting their territory. Some birds such as Meadow larks
will do a duet where each partner contributes phrases to the song. A
male Red-winged blackbirds will sing while the female chatters back at him.
Male songbirds may do what is known as countersinging during territorial
disputes. In this contest each bird will match the other bird's song
types. One bird famous for this is the Marsh wren.
Some songbirds are known for imitating the sounds of other birds and
animals. Mockingbirds
will even imitate machinery. European starlings, catbirds, and thrashers
are imitators. Blue Jays
will imitate the call of a hawk. There are two types of songs. The
loud primary song we usually hear a male singing, and soft songs that are
called whisper song.
Calls
Calls are usually not as musical as songs. They are usually only a
few short notes, and may be heard throughout the year. Birds use calls
to communicate many things to each other, and between members of a flock or
family. Contact calls may be used to give others information such as a birds
location. There are calls for aggression, warning, identification,
flocking, hunger, to announce a food source, and many others. Many
species will have calls that specify a certain type of predator in the area.Some calls are understood by more than one species. A recent
fascinating study by scientists at the Universities of Washington, and Montana
found that nuthatches understand chickadee calls. When chickadees warn
that predatory bird is near, the nuthatches will band together with them to
surround the predator in an attempt to drive it away. Young birds give
begging calls to get their parents to feed them.
Although calls are used for communication, that communication is in the
present. Here is an example of what I mean. You may tell a friend
you left your keys at his house yesterday. Birds have not developed the
mental capacity for this, and can only communicate something happening right
now such as a warning call.
Learning to Recognize Bird Sounds
Many people buy tapes or CDs of bird sounds, both for enjoyment and, to
learn the different songs.
You can also search sounds from web sites such as FindSounds.com.
Many of these can be downloaded for your own use. Some people like to
record sounds themselves. Bird sound recording equipment can be found on
the Internet.
The more ways you have to identify a bird the more you will enjoy, and the
more success you will have at bird watching.
Their colorful plumage makes most birds easy to identify if you can get a good
look at them. If the birds are in the brush, a long distance away, or in
poor light it is more difficult. Because of the effects of shadows,
lighting, and changes in plumage, visual identification is often not as
reliable as identification from songs and calls. Many bird watchers
learn to identify bird shapes
and silhouettes as well as sounds.
The best place to start learning birdcalls is in your back yard. If you
walk through a wooded area there may be such a stream of different calls it is
hard to pick one out. By observing the birds in your back yard, and
listening to their calls, you can learn to pick them out in a forest or wooded
area. This combined with their shapes can make your birding experience
more fun and rewarding.
In addition to listening to them in your back yard there are many tapes of
birdcalls you can buy.
Sound Production
Birds have a sound-producing organ called the syrnx. The syrnix is
near the bottom of their windpipe, where it divides into the main bronchial
tubes that lead to the lungs. The membranes are like the skin of a drum,
and vibrate as air is pushed out through them. Pairs of muscles control
the tension on the membranes to change the sound characteristics. The
number and complexity of these muscles vary with different species, and if
fact between male and female. The syrnix is divided into two
compartments, one for each lung. These can be controlled separately, and
sounds from each can be combined. This is why birds such as starlings,
and mockingbirds can make such varied sounds, and are such good imitators.
Birds Hearing is also Important.
Their hearing is much the same as ours. One big advantage is that they
have developed sense of time resolution, which is about 10 times better than
ours. What does this mean? Several separate notes in sequence may sound
to us like one long note. Because of their time resolution ability they
hear the note separated into the smaller segments. This allows more
information to be communicated. One way to visualize this is to compare
it to a piece of movie film. When run through a projector we can’t see
the separation. Scientists today use sound spectrographs to study these.
Below is both the sound and visual image of a simple robin chirp. It
sounds to us like two notes. In the image you can see the separation
that birds can hear. Hear Robin Chirp If your browser
will not let you use this sound link, the Robin Chirp is the last on in the
drop down list below.
Other sounds
There of course sounds other than songs or calls. Here are a few:
Drumming of a Woodpecker
Woodpeckers have specialized bills, and neck muscles for hammering on tree
trunks. In addition to drilling holes they use this to send sound
signals. Woodpeckers and
grouse both use drumming to claim a territory, and attract a mate, just like
songbirds use their song. Grouse beat their wings to make the sound.
Note on some browsers you will not be able to see or use the drop down sound
list. If you can't use it try the sound links below.
The Common snipe will climb high in sky then dive down at a slant with its
tail feathers spread. The air rushing through will cause the outer feathers to
vibrate creating a drumming sound. It has been described as a siren or
bleating sound. Owls and herons snap their bills to show aggression or
if alarmed.
Most of the pages about specific birds on the All-Birds website have samples
of the particular birds song or call. Click here for favorite
birds and their sounds.
Bird
Sounds - Songs and Calls
If your browser
will not let you use this sound link, the Robin Chirp is the last on in the
drop down list below.
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