Birdsong Notes: How to Learn Bird Songs

By Mic McCarty

Field Trip Coordinator and Board Member

Singing Prothonotary Warbler by Mic McCarty

The melodies of warblers, thrushes, and sparrows weave an intricate tapestry of sound, marking territories and attracting mates. Now with spring upon us, the air is filled with the diverse chorus of avian voices that signal the season’s renewal. Each song, from the clear whistle of the Carolina Wren to the complex trills of the Warbling Vireo, tells the story of the bird’s history and survival instincts.

Listening to birds is a skill that takes patience and practice to master. Identifying birds by sight is much easier for me than by ear. I am so in tuned for visual cues, that I have difficulty learning birdsong. If you are like me and need some help learning birdsong, here are some tools.

• The first method is by using the Rosetta Stone of birdsong called Larkwire. Like Rosetta Stone, Larkwire will help you learn the easy to learn songs like Cardinals and Eastern Bluebirds. It “gamifies” the experience and has increasing levels of difficulty. I highly recommend this approach. It is both a web site and phone app. Go to https://larkwire.com/web to try a free introduction.

• Merlin App can identify birds by their song and has a treasure trove of recordings to listen to and compare with your audio recordings. Remember to verify that the bird is truly present. Brown Thrashers and other mimics can fool Merlin.

• Many birders know about Macaulay Library’s photo collection of birds from around the world. The library also possesses a large database of bird recordings. When you record with Merlin, you can contribute to the library with your Merlin recording https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/ .

• Field guides often have discussions of birdsong identification. One of the best can be found in The Warbler Guide by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle. A succinct summary of elements of birdsong can be found here:  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/how-to-listen-to-bird-song-tips-and-examples-from-the-warbler-guide/.

• There are many resources and courses on Cornell’s website:

• Bird Song Hero https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/features/bird-song-hero/bird-song-hero-tutorial#%2Fbird-song-hero-tutorial (Free)

• eBird Photo + Sound Quiz https://ebird.org/quiz/  (Free)

• All About Bird Song https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/features/birdsong/songbirds-in-action (Free)

• Bird Song Basics: https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/product/bird-song-basics-getting-started-with-birding-by-ear/ ($39)

• The best way to learn is by doing it. So, try out some of these resources, use one of your own and get out there and listen!