How to Identify Birds: Birding by Ear - Learning Songs and Calls

Many people will assume that you see all the birds while you are out on a bird walk. Many times, I only hear certain species but never see them. The key - learning to identify them by their songs or calls.

What’s the difference between Songs and Calls?

The best place to start, I guess, would be distinguishing between songs and calls. Calls are 1-2 note vocalizations made by all birds for various reasons, while songs are usually made by birds in the passerine family, the songbirds. Songs are larger vocal patterns, mostly for territory and courtship purposes. Calls can also be non-vocal sounds, which will be explained later.

Both songs and calls can be useful in identifying birds, depending on the situation. In some cases, you will hear the sound and be interested in finding the bird making it. In others, the call or song from the bird could be the final piece in the puzzle in being able to identify similar looking birds. Finally, you may just want to know if a bird is present in an area and will be satisfied if you can just hear audible evidence of its existence.

Songs

Bird songs are used primarily for two reasons, for courtship and for showing territories. When used for courtship, you will probably hear songs from spring until mid-summer, when the breeding season is in full swing. At these times, the songs are sung by the males in an effort to attract a mate. Concurrently, the song will alert other males that a rival is present in the area and actively searching for a mate. One of two outcomes will then happen. Either the intruding male will compete for that territory or the intruder will same his time and energy and move on to another area without competing rivals.

Birds usually sing their songs while perched from a prominent spot or may sing while moving through the canopy. Some species will sing from the ground while others, like the bobolink or horned lark, will sing while in flight.

If you are venturing out with a focus on hearing bird songs, then some planning is necessary. Birds will sing throughout the day, but you will be more successful if you go out in the early morning or late afternoon. In places that are very warm during the mid-day, birds will be coming still and quiet during the mid-afternoon hours. I have been on many walks in the afternoon and been very disappointed in seeing or hearing only a few birds.

As mentioned before, singing is predominantly for breeding, but some species will sing at non-breeding times. In migration, white-throated sparrows will sing in late fall and early spring.

Calls

Bird calls are not bird songs for several reasons. For one, they are not long enough to be considered songs. Secondly, they can be made by any bird, such as herons or gulls, not just those that are songbirds. Finally, they can be sounds that are non-vocal. The reasons for bird calls are varied. They can be for courtship or territorial purposes. Many birds will produce a characteristic call when they are in distress, such as being chased by a predator or something is near it’s nest. Young birds can also produce calls when separated from the adult or when it wants to be fed. Some species will call to gather back together if getting too separated. These examples are all of the vocal kind.

Non-vocal calls can include woodpeckers drumming on tree limbs. These calls can be very species specific and aid in bird identification. Birds will also produce calls with their wings. Duck wings produce a whistling sound when flying nearby and a ruffed grouse will use its wings to produce a rapidly-increasing drumming sound during breeding times.

Learning Songs and Calls

When I began birding, I used a field guide to identify birds by their field marks. Most of the time, that bird would be singing and calling while I was observing it. I would take the time to watch the bird and listen to it. If you hear a particular bird enough times, you will begin to remember the more obvious ones. Some songs or calls can be “translated” phonetically into phrases and more easily remembered. For example, the chickadee is called that for a reason, the Eastern bluebird with its “cheer cheerful charmer” and the classic White-throated sparrow’s “old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody”.

Black-capped Chickadee

Eastern Bluebird

White-throated Sparrow

There are also CDs that can be purchased that have regional birds recorded. This allows for more repetitions for memorization. Another good reason to purchase is being able to listen to those birds when out-of-season in your area. I have also listened to CDs when preparing for a birding vacation in a new geographic region with many new birds. I have included my favorites below with links to Amazon.

I am currently checking out Peterson’s Field Guide To Bird Sounds Of Eastern North America. This guide utilizes spectrograms to learn bird calls and songs. These are images showing sound patterns graphically by pitch and length. I have had trouble interpreting these images, but am willing to take on a challenge in an effort to learn bird songs better.

There are also apps for mobile devices that you can use to learn bird songs and calls. I have used Larkwire, which quizzes you on several calls and then increases the number of birds quizzed. Again, I have listed those that I feel would be worth your time checking out.

Using Sounds to Attract Birds

When I am out birding and want smaller birds to come closer to me, I have two options available. The first is called pishing. This is accomplished by pursing your lips and opening and closing your lips repeatedly while making a “shhh” sound. This can mimic some distress calls of birds and will bring the birds closer to you to investigate the source. This is especially productive with warblers, chickadees, sparrow and some finches. Another method I utilize is a bird-caller. It is typically a wooden cylinder with pewter insert with rosin inside the cylinder. When you twist the pewter handle and press into the wood, many varied sounds of different pitches can be produced. With a little practice you can mimic some of the more common birds. It will also produce sounds that are similar to distress calls. One word of warning here though. Do not do these distress calls for long periods of time. They can stress the birds out and this is especially true during the breeding season. I will personally only do this to bring birds out of hiding so I can see what is present and only for a minute or two.

 

Audubon Bird Caller

 

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Next Steps

The bird song portion of my How to Identify Birds Course at OutdoorCore.

There are several ways to approach the next steps in learning bird calls and songs. Both could be considered easy, but have their difficulties, too. The first approach would be to go on walks, identify the birds that you are seeing and be patient; listen while you are watching each species. Take note of their calls and songs. I found it useful to look at my field guide while listening and read the description of the call or song. This way I could understand what they were describing in the field guide as I heard it. The second approach would be to either purchase one of the CDs below or download one of the suggested bird song apps. Some of the apps will help to identify a bird that is singing (BirdNET and Song Sleuth 2.0) while others will help you to learn the songs and calls (Larkwire).

For those really up for a challenge, once you become familiar with a good number of bird songs, I would steer you in the direction of the Nathan Pieplow book for your region.

Suggested Books, CDs and Tools to Learn Bird Songs and Calls