Birding by Ear

There's a lot to look forward to in spring for birders.

The flowers are blooming, old friends are returning,聽 and birdsong is at its peak. The sheer volume of songs and calls can often feel overwhelming for birders, but these sounds offer聽an opportunity and a challenge. With our birding-by-ear series聽you can learn how to better ID birds through their vocalizations.聽

Pt. 1: Start Listening for Songs and Calls
Pt. 2: Learn the Most Common Kinds of Sounds
Pt. 3: Connect Noises With Pictures That Stick
Pt. 4: Grow Familiar With Neighborhood Voices
Pt. 5: 鈥淩ead鈥 Sounds on Spectrograms
Pt. 6: Know If It's a Mimic or the Real Deal
Pt. 7: Learn Different Regional Accents
Pt. 8: Eavesdrop on Nature's Orchestra
A Few of Our Favorite Sounds
American Bittern
Herons, Egrets, Bitterns
! Priority Bird
Varied Thrush
Thrushes
Red-tailed Hawk
Hawks and Eagles
Pied-billed Grebe
Grebes

More Birding Advice

A crane lowers its neck to forage in shallow water, with the rest of the flock in the background. The sunrise casts an orange glow on the foggy pond.
Don鈥檛 Sleep on the Other Sandhill Season
October 02, 2023 — Autumn offers a cornucopia of crane-viewing options.
A young girl in a striped dress looks through binoculars amid tall grass and wildflowers, with trees overhead.
A Binocular Guide for Growing Birders
September 29, 2023 — A good pair of bins can wow kids, helping them to delight in birding. These five picks make the grade.
Merlin Is Magical, but It Still Makes Mistakes
August 23, 2023 — As the popularity of the app鈥檚 Sound ID feature grows, so do concerns about how imperfect artificial intelligence impacts a trove of scientific data.
A young woman outside near a river holds a tripod and spotting scope and looks at the camera.
Mya-Rose Craig鈥檚 Search for Family Amid an Extraordinary Life of World Birding
August 15, 2023 — Birdgirl, a memoir by the 21-year-old birder and activist, is an affecting story of a daughter seeking her parents as they, together, seek birds.
A rust and gray-colored bird stands on a mossy surface and looks at the camera.
How Training Secretive Birds Became a Boon for Tropical Forest Conservation
August 10, 2023 — When a farming family in Ecuador 鈥渂efriended鈥 an elusive antpitta, they pioneered a new path for ecotourism.