Learn bird song in 7 easy steps

Ever strolled through the countryside wondering what bird you just heard? Or what the different tweets and chirrups of UK songbirds actually mean?

Bird song made easy

On International Dawn Chorus Day the world celebrates nature's greatest symphony. Taking place every spring, this is when birds gather for an early morning sing-off and is well worth getting up early for. To help you identify which bird is performing, I've put together a slideshow of my bird paintings against the soundtrack of each species' song and a simple guide.

https://youtu.be/CPK_vBaym98

It has taken me a lifetime to learn to identify birds by their song and I can also understand the meaning of most tunes. I've broken down the essentials for you here into seven easy steps:

1.  Start with signature tunes

Among the UK’s native species there are definite ‘songsters’. These are birds with beautiful voices, like blackbirds, robins, skylarks, song thrushes and chaffinches, and each has its own, distinct signature tune. Once you’ve learned a bird’s jingle, you can always pick it out, even if it only sings a few phrases of the melody. Although these songs sound joyful, they are actually either expressions of aggression used to warn off competitors or noisy serenades to attract a mate. The general rule of thumb is that the prettier the tune; the more bellicose the bird that is singing it.

Robin on Hawthorn, limited edition print by Robert E Fuller Click to Buy

2. Build on what you already know

Most of us already have a basic knowledge of birdsong. Without even realising it, even the most unversed in nature knows the hoot of a tawny owl or a cuckoo’s call. It’s not difficult to add to this the ‘Repeat, repeat’, repeat’ of a song thrush or the incessant, noisy chitter of a wren. For such a tiny bird, a wren’s ditty is particularly loud and raucous.

3. Fit the sound to your surroundings.

 

If you are by a river or a stream and you hear a loud, piping call then look out for the electric-blue of a kingfisher as it flashes past. Similarly grey wagtails make a sort of ‘chiswick’ call, so loud you can hear it above the sound of crashing water. These beautiful birds have lemon-yellow bellies, despite their name.

Colourful Kingfisher, limited edition print by Robert E Fuller. Click to buy.

On the other hand if you are walking across an arable field and you hear a joyful, exultant stream of song: look up. It’s most likely a skylark. If the sound rises and then falls in a shimmering, trill, look for the jumpy flight of a meadow pipit.

4. Some birds 'say' their own names.

Cuckoos, curlews, kittiwakes and chiffchaffs are named after the calls they make.  Listen out for the ‘chiff’ ‘chaff’ next time you are walking through scrubland or woodland. If you are by the sea, a kittiwake will say its name to you ‘kitty-waake’ ‘kitty-waake’ as it soars over precipitous coastal cliffs. And the ring of a ‘cur-leeew’ over an empty moor needs no introduction.

Curlew, limited edition by Robert E Fuller. Click to buy.

5. Add lyrics to the melody

Some bird songs sound like nursery rhymes. A yellow hammer is said to be saying: “A little bit of butter and nooo cheeese”.

Yellow Hammer, painted by Robert E Fuller. Click to buy.

And then there’s the wood pigeon’s eternal complaint: 'My toe hurts Betty; my toe hurts Betty; my toe hurts Betty. Oooh'. Once you’ve got lyrics in your head it’s easier to remember the tune.

6. Watch out for bird mimics

Things get tricky when you get one bird mimicking another. Only the very best songsters can do this and the trick is part of a male’s noisy strategies to impress a mate. I recently heard a starling impersonating a curlew. Only the chatter of ‘starling’ that it emitted shortly before and afterwards gave the game away.

7. Keep it local

Chaffinch, limited edition print by Robert E Fuller. Click to buy

Fascinatingly, birds actually have local dialects. A British chaffinch, for instance, sings a slightly different tune to a Siberian one. But the difference is something only a really committed ornithologist with experience of listening to a range of species across Europe needs to know.

Now you have 7 simple steps to understanding bird song and you should get more from the dawn chorus. And if you enjoyed this, read my blog on how to decipher the meaning of birdsong.