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Can someone advise me on how to learn bird calls? (1 Viewer)

S

SPF

Well-known member
Dear all,
I'm trying to learn bird calls at present and am having very little luck and I think I'm going about it totally the wrong way!

I've got the British birdsong CDs and I seem to be getting no where at all. I try to listen to them as MP3s, mainly a single bird at a time whilst reading about that particular bird, but to no avail.

The only joy I've had is if I actually see a bird singing I can remember (sounds and the picture) and when I hear the bird again I can put the image with it. So I can identify the common birds around the flat.

Is it just the case that I can put the bird and the song together due to the ambance of the place and it therefor is easier to learn instead of the synthetic way I've been trying?

Has anyone got any tricks to help or is it just perseverance?
Would one of the DVDs were the bird is on the screen and singing help?

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated as it is becoming a tad frustrating when I'm looking for something different!

Cheers,
Paul
 
Hi Paul,

I believe that just as people have different inherent musical abilities, people also have different inherent abilities to remember bird calls and songs. I think I am like you and not blessed with a "golden ear" when it comes to remembering birdsongs, and I think people in our situation may have to work on it more than some others.

I have not found a magical solution, but three things that I have found that helps:

-- Try to identify all the calls you hear when you are in the field. And if you hear a song you do not recognize, try to track down the bird and see what it is. This process should help you remember the call in the future.

-- pay attention to verbal mnemonics and descriptions suggested in field guides. These are generally easier to remember than the actual song itself.

-- some CDs allow you to construct birdsong quizzes. For example, you could assemble a list of winter forest birds in your area, and the CD would play the song and then ask you to type in the name of the bird. This process should help you remember the bird more than just listening to a call of a bird whose identity you already know.

There may also be some books or CDs specifically for British birds that use various methods to help you remember calls, e.g. group together similar sounding calls. I am not personally familiar with these though.

Hope this helps,
Jim
 
Going out in the field with an experienced birder is the ideal. Listening to CDs alone can be difficult. Paul Doherty's DVDs on birds have quite a few of the species in song - listening whilst watching footage of the species is, I find, helpful since I'm far more visually than aurally inclined. It might work for you too,

John
 
Hi Paul,

This rings a bell from myself a few years back....

Wouldn't it be great if you could just listen to a CD x times and then you would know them all - unfortunately it doesn't seem to work like that...and my theory is that, without there being any context in which to place a given call or song, they all just merge into one amorphous mass.

What helped me a good deal was just learning the most common ones in any given habitat and then working up from there.... so you walk through a wood and are soon able to say to yourself -"Robin"... "Blackbird"..... "Blue Tit" etc until you hear one that you don't recognise. Track it down, and then you've got one more to add to your list.

Taking it one step at a time and gradually building up your known list will at least enable you to retain what you learn.

Surprisingly, it doesn't actually take that long to get to grips with the vast majority of call/songs that you are likely to hear in your own environment - of course, it all quickly goes pear-shaped if you go travelling!!

Your idea of finding it easier if you can actually see the bird singing works for me too... I own the excellent "Birds of Britain and Europe" DVD set from Paul Docherty, which I would thoroughly recommend.


Goos luck.... Ray
 
SPF said:
Dear all,

The only joy I've had is if I actually see a bird singing I can remember (sounds and the picture) and when I hear the bird again I can put the image with it. So I can identify the common birds around the flat.

Cheers,
Paul
Click to expand...

I found that the best way to be honest. Once you've got the common ones you know when you're hearing something different.

Mind you there are still more than a few that I just cant get.
:-C
 
Cheers for the advice.

If the "golden ear" is proportional to how well you sing then I think I might try smell instead, I could have better results!

As you all mentioned- I think it is going to be a case of me sitting down watching and slowly getting to grips with it. And then finding the “unknown call” and identifying by sight. Due to the time of year, I think that this’ll be a good option. In addition, I’ll have a look at the Paul Doherty DVDs. Every time I go to a RSPB reserve with a shop, I pick one up but there is just too much choice so I end up not getting any.

John Cantelo- I’ve been on walks with experienced birders and was just awestruck! That helped me pick up a lot more calls.

Once again many thanks
 
I used to be hopeless at bird song when I first started - even manged to confuse a Blue Tit singing outside with a Robin :-O
But then I went on a Dawn Chorus Walk in Jesmond Dene, organised by my local Wildlife Trust. Seeing the birds actually singing in front of me helped enormously and from then on I just concentrated on always seeing the bird when I heard any new songs and slowly, very slowly LOL, over the years I've picked them up :t:

It's just a case of practice, practice, practice really - though I did find using a bird song cd helped with a few species. If I hadn't listened to the sound of Raven's cronking on Geoff Sample's cd I would probably have missed that species in the Lake District last year. It was their call which alerted me to them on a cliff face :t:

Why not get in touch with your local wildlife trust/bird club? I'm sure they'll have Dawn Chorus Walks organised for early May that are well worth attending.
 
Ive talked to a few people about this and I feel its like a jigsaw, getting out in the field and recognising your first few calls is tricky but once Great Tit, Robin and Blackbird are down they are like the edge of the jigsaw. Long-tailed Tit is that detailed piece which is easy to place once you have the edges as is Willow Warbler. More difficult pieces fit in easily once you have the rest in place so when your listening to a Redstart or a Tree Pipit you know what it is because of what it isn't. Like that tricky bit of sky... Enough of the analogy.
 
I believe it's the same with all aspects of memory, not just birdsong/calls - the more links you can make with other objects, the easier it is to remember. With calls, as you learn the common calls you are building a database for comparison with other calls - "like a chaffinch, only harsher" etc etc, which helps you slot new birds into your memory. It certainly takes time, though, and I wish I'd been able to travel more and experience a wider variety of calls when I was younger.
 
My advice would be: Don't expect it to be easy.
Books aren't that useful as the transcriptions don't mean much. You may hear something and write down a completely different transcription.
Also lots of birds actually have lots of different songs and calls, not all of which are in the books.
I have tried some CDs and I find I can't remember more than one or two at a time.
After 15 months trying to learn bird sounds there are only a few I actually recognise.
Going out with someone who knows or with a group of experts can be a real help. Ask them when you hear an unknown call/ song and even if you think you know it, ask for confirmation. (This helps your confidence.)
Having said all that, keep at it because so many birds are very similar to look at and only really identifiable by their sounds.
I hope you have more succes with this than I have so far!
Alan
 
Here's 2 That's worth remembering

If you hear a call hat sounds like Teacher Teacher it's a Great Tit and some call out their own name like ChiffChaff Chif Chaff Chif Chaff
 
Ceejay2000 said:
Hi Steve,

Really useful link, lots of helpful info in it. Thank you.

Regards C
Click to expand...

I agree. But it does not mention what I had noted in my original post: that there are some CDs that do a lot of the work for you of assembling recordings of songs where the name is given after the song is heard . You do not have to go through the time-consuming process of creating your own recordings through iTunes.

In the U.S. and Canada, for example, Thayer Birding Software's Guide to the Birds of North America has a facility for creating custom bird song quizzes. And "Birding by Ear" CDs, in the Peterson Field guide series, have a series of tutorials grouping songs in various ways to aid memorization. I am not sure if there are similar CDs to help learning European bird songs, but I would think there must be something.

I am also skeptical of the claim in the article that everyone has similar memory abilities. I agree there are lots of things you can do to help and improve memorization, but I think there are inherent differences among individuals. Moreover, I believe memorizing birdsongs is a lot different from memorizing facts and figures. When memorizing birdsongs, you have to remember qualities rather than straightforward facts. Kind of like the difference between digital and analog.

Best,
Jim
 
Last edited:
SPF said:
Cheers for the advice.

If the "golden ear" is proportional to how well you sing then I think I might try smell instead, I could have better results!

As you all mentioned- I think it is going to be a case of me sitting down watching and slowly getting to grips with it. And then finding the “unknown call” and identifying by sight. Due to the time of year, I think that this’ll be a good option. In addition, I’ll have a look at the Paul Doherty DVDs. Every time I go to a RSPB reserve with a shop, I pick one up but there is just too much choice so I end up not getting any.

John Cantelo- I’ve been on walks with experienced birders and was just awestruck! That helped me pick up a lot more calls.

Once again many thanks
Click to expand...

I think John C's advice is the most appropriate in terms of learning and remembering call/song. Most -decent- birders would be more than happy to help you identify what you are hearing.
 
Cheers for all the advice.
I've added chaffinch to the list of calls I recognized and I'm starting to get my ear in for locating them better- saw a coal tit at Hendon tube station on Sunday morning. I knew it was there since it was calling away but didn't see it for ages. I was worried that if I didn't see it the tube would scare it away. Once again, much appreciated.
 
Good luck with it, SPF. I find it a never-ending process, and am amazed by some birders in the field who can identify a species of finch flying way overheard simply from some faint "chirp". I have to re-learn a lot every spring. Ideally in the field, as others advised, but the Doherty and Sample DVDs are superb, and I prefer to see the bird on screen as I hear the song. I think over 80% of the birdsong you´re likely to hear is coming from 12 or so species, so if you get the common ones off pat, you´ll at least know when you´re listening to something different. Sorry I can´t add anything earth-shattering to the excellent advice already given...if it makes you feel any better, I´ve spent the last three years (well, springtime anyway) listening again and again to Blackcap v. Garden Warbler songs on CDs, etc., and still can´t distinguish them in "blind" tests.
 
Not much new to add. Learning in the field with someone who knows is the best way. If you're on your own, like I am, just get out there and listen! I've got a shed load of bird calls on my phone, and if I hear something I'm not sure on can go through the likely canditates. The thing is, once you've heard it, go and see it calling... you NEED the visual handle to facilitate the memory. That way, even if you can't recall or playback the song in your head you'll know it when you hear it, and (hopefully) know what it is.
 
Sancho said:
I have to re-learn a lot every spring......I´ve spent the last three years (well, springtime anyway) listening again and again to Blackcap v. Garden Warbler songs on CDs, etc., and still can´t distinguish them in "blind" tests.
Click to expand...

Thank god it's not just me who has to relearn warblers every spring! ;) You'd think that after 27 years I'd know the darned things but I don't! :smoke:
 
Hi Paul,

Much like Sancho and Gill, I also have to brush up on many each year. As some folk are telling you though, it's a case of getting out there and watching and listening, but see if there is a particular phrase you can put with a song such as Euan says with the Great Tit and Chiffchaff.

Once you get a Bird and it's song into your head go home and keep on listening to it over and over on a CD while looking at a picture with the name underneath and try and get it to really stick. If you can ever get any Bill Oddie dvds/vhs tapes then watch and listen to him as he has a real way of passing it on to us to learn.

Good luck with listening!

Sue
 
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