Birdsong Serenades

Let’s say you’re taking a walk down a prairie road in early June. The land is fairly flat, there are few if any trees or shrubs taller than a couple feet. In a field alongside you, you begin to hear this song... It’s faint, and sounds a bit garbled and fast. You’re not quite so sure where this song is coming from, or which of the numerous prairie species this might be. Longspurs, larks, sparrows,...

It’s late in the bird breeding season. Very late.. perhaps early September, somewhere in the Great Lakes region. Many species stopped singing with any regularity weeks ago, but on a late evening hike, you’re hearing one bird singing, even after it starts getting dark. Pee uhhh weee The Eastern Wood-Pewee can be heard singing until the day they leave their forest breeding territory. Of course thoug...

Imagine that it is mid-June, and you’re hiking in a forest. You hear this one birdsong. With very few (if any) breaks between these repeated phrases. You’re not sure, but you think there might be several of these birds. What you can tell for certain though, is that the song has a repetitive pattern to it. And it’s coming from the canopy — the upper parts of the trees. And, try as you might, you ca...

The Common Yellowthroat is more heard than seen. A typical encounter might be something like this: You’re hiking a trail somewhere, and you hear this song. You look over to where it came from and see a patch of cattail reeds, probably surrounding a small pond. Approaching this pond, you begin to see a small bird dart from reed to reed — perhaps sometimes even perching sideways on the reed — its fe...

This episode will focus on the Wood Thrush. You may notice a bit of a tweak to the format of this series, it’s something new I’d like to try, and if feedback is positive I’d like to begin re-releasing episodes with the newer format. For feedback, as always you can contact me through Patreon, Discord, or email rob [at] songbirding.com . It’s late June, and you’re on an evening hike through a decidu...

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet has a lengthy and fascinating song for such a tiny songbird. It starts off with soft high notes, then break into a musical twittering, and concludes with a loud series of phrases. It’s a strange song, and a loud one for such a tiny bird. Most people will only get a chance to hear this song during spring migration as most of their breeding territories are far away from heav...

To many in North America, the Northern Cardinal is the first birdsong of the season one will hear. If you listen often enough though, you might hear one singing at any time of the year. The song can be a “purr deep purr deep” phrase repeated, or a “freep freep tick tick tick tick tick”. This species can vary quite a bit throughout its wide range, and both females and males are known to sing, thoug...

The American Robin is very common songbird found across North America, and is often considered the quintessential “sign of spring” for many people. Their song is complex, but can often be boiled down to variations upon the mnemonic “cheery, cheerio, cheer-ily”, repeated in rolling phrases.

The Eastern Towhee has one of the most famous mnemonics of all of North America's songbirds. "Drink Your Tea" describes the most common song of this species, though it has some variations to this. Its' call, interestingly enough, can sound like its name "towhee", but some describe this call instead of "chewink".

The Hooded Warbler's range just barely touches into southern Ontario, and is usually associated with the extreme south -- the forests near the shore of Lake Erie. This yellow warbler with a distinct black hood is a Carolinian Forest species, and has a couple different songs, it's primary song sounding like a-weeta-weeta-weeteeoo.

The Eastern Meadowlark is a bright, loud, and cheery presence in tallgrass prairies and farmland across eastern North America, the Central Americas and parts of South America. The male’s song generally consists of 3-5 plaintive whistles, slurred together into a single melody. Generally they sing from an exposed perch, but have been known to sometimes sing in flight.

The Hermit Thrush is a forest songbird with a drab brown plumage, and well-known melancholy song. They lurk in the understories of northern forests in the summer, and the southern forests in the winter. Their song begins with a sustained whistle, and follows with echoing tones that sound like they drift away at the end.

The Chipping Sparrow has what can be called in most regions a cryptic song. What is meant by this, is it can sound very similar to some other species. Its trill is similar to Swamp Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Warbler, and Worm-eating Warbler. So how can you tell it apart? For me, this song is sharper, and more consistent in its trills, in volume, frequency, and speed. The song of a Chipping Spa...

The House Wren is a small but powerful and frequent singer. Both males and females will sing during breeding season. The songs are bubbly, and abruptly move from note to note. To me they can be reminiscent of a warbler song.

The Yellow Warbler is one of the most widespread of all the warblers of North America, and are well-known by their bright colour and cheery song. Their most common song is a loud “sweet sweet sweeter than sweet”, but their song can vary quite a bit, and you’ll hear some of this in the following recordings. They typically sing from a tree or other high perch.

The Field Sparrow is a small warm-coloured brown bird found in tallgrass priaries, and old fields with shrubs and small trees. Their song starts off with slow, repeated notes, then accelerates to the point where it almost blurs into a solid note. This rhythm is akin to a ping-pong ball being dropped onto a hard surface.

The Rusty Blackbird was once an abundant, common blackbird species. In the last fifty years, its population has had a rapid decline, losing between 85 and 99 per cent of its population. If you've never heard one or seen one before, this might be why. Their song is a bit hard to describe, but can sound like rusty hinges. They’re often found in mixed flocks with other blackbird species, so listening...

The Red-winged Blackbird is one of the most recognizable and abundant birds in North America. The males show bright red-and-yellow epaulets upon their wings, in stark contrast to their otherwise charcoal appearance. When you find one of these birds, it is usually not difficult to identify them. But with that said, it can still be very helpful to understand and learn the songs and calls of this abu...

The Swamp Sparrow has what can be called in most regions a cryptic song. What is meant by this, is it can sound very similar to some other species. Its trill is similar to Chipping Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Warbler, and Worm-eating Warbler. So how can you tell it apart? For me, the song is brighter, bolder, and has more of a ringing to it. The frequency of the trill itself can vary a fair bit...

The Northern Waterthrush has a rather deceptive name: while it is true that the species looks a lot like a thrush, it is in reality, a type of wood warbler. As is also implied by the name, they are found near water, specifically in wet, swampy areas within forests. They can hide very well, but if you do spot one, you’ll often notice them bobbing their tails up and down when foraging. While the son...

The Indigo Bunting is a brilliant blue bird with a lively and complex song. For this song, some use the mnemonics like "Fire, fire, where, where, here, here, put-it-out, put-it-out”, but you can come up with your own phrase with the same rhythm, and that would work as well. Also, you may need to adjust it for variations on the song in different regions, as there can be quite a bit of variability....

Brown Thrashers are mimics, and like their catbird and mockingbird cousins, has a large repertoire of songs they can make. The sounds they make are easily confused with Northern Mockingbird in particular, but one difference that can stand out is that they tend to sing phrases in doubles - one note or phrase repeated once - whereas mockingbirds will tend to use triples. There are many other qualiti...

The Bobolink has a unique song. Not much else sounds like it, perhaps the closest thing I can think of is the garbled mess one might hear when a digital sound file from a compact disc or music file is damaged. These blackbirds of the tallgrass prairies often sing from the air, but might also sing from a perch in a tree, or hidden on the ground. Typically one will see and hear the black-white-and-y...

The Grasshopper Sparrow can be a tough bird to hear. They are rather quiet, and are present in tall grassy areas. Their song is quite buzzy, and seem more like an insect sound than a bird song. Even thought they are quiet, they always look like they are making far more sound than they are. Should you get a chance to see one singing, you might expect a much louder sound out of this bird. They can b...

The American Redstart is a cheery, friendly warbler that vocalizes in a lot of different ways. It can be hard to nail down this song as it varies so much, but generally it is always a short song, and tends to end abruptly or with an accent. It is a fairly persistent singer though, as you will hear -- and the pause between each song is usually only a few seconds long. A few times in these following...