• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

How to memorize and recognise bird songs (3 Viewers)

I actually believe that some people have a natural gift and they tend to be those of a musical inclination.
Can't always be true, I'm generally quite good on bird calls / songs (and yep, no probs with Blackcap & Garden Warbler), but I'm as musical as an alley cat 3:)
 
This is a fun game that helps you identify bird sounds (and SEE them, too!) :)

https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/bird-song-hero/

And I agree with getting a visual of the bird singing to hold a stronger memory in your brain, it helps immensely. The other thing I do is I am constantly looking up birds that are well known in my area and listening to their various recordings over and over.

The voice graphic helps to gess the voice, eventhough for voices which you never heard before !
 
Aside from not being able to distinguish between black cap and garden warbler in addition to having the tonality of a brick there is also the problem for many of us of advancing middle age. My regular birding companion, who is infinitely better than me at birdsong and calls, could not even hear the Grasshopper warbler that was reeling away merrily in scrub not 10m from where we stood (still couldn't see the blighter but that another story). Personally I blame years of trying to get as close to the front as possible at various rock gigs in our youth.

Joking apart, as we age our hearing register decreases, with the higher frequencies the first to go. Add into this the aforementioned penchant for Black Sabbath and their ilk, occupational and other environmental noise exposure and it is hardly surprising that we sometimes have difficulty in distinguishing distant (and sometimes not so distant) birdsong as we get older.

Just to make matters worse of course, some birds have a wide variety of calls and are not averse to the occasional bit of mimicry.

I came across a free app british bird sounds ( I think it is by luminous apps) which I downloaded. its nothing special but is ok apart from relying on an 3g connection to work in the field. Like many such apps (Collins included) you have to have a rough idea first and then try and match by trial and error. Ideally an app where you can record the bird then let it come up with suitable suggestions would be best. Not sure if such a thing exists?
 
Offtopic - PM Storage

Hi Dieter,

Pictures and voices excellent !

Sorry for the offtopic post, but the forum engine does not provide a better way to handle this: Please check your Personal Message storage - you've exceeded your quota, so I can't reply to your latest PM!

Regards,

Henning
 
For some reason, I find I can listen to recordings all day long and none of it really sticks in my mind. But when out in the field and hearing a new bird call or song, wondering what it is, then finding out by seeing the bird - then I never forget the sound.
 
This ability is a gift, there are varying degrees to this gift but I find those that are best, often have an apptitude for music.

I'm still rubbish too, I can often get calls down to family but beyond that it's a guess. My recent trip to Africa made me feel ashamed, our guide was finding birds through the tiniest utterance that sounded the same as dozens of others to me, I really am in awe of such people.
 
Last edited:
This ability is a gift, there are varying degrees to this gift but I find those that are best, often have an apptitude for music.

Fortunately its possible to get somewhere without a musical bent, because I certainly don't have one. :eek!:

A lot of it is experience: people learn at different rates and in different ways (at different times in their lives, too!) so what works for one won't necessarily work for another: I find more goes in than I think but it needs the right cue to get it out again. So I have learned some calls in my few trips to Africa but I need to be back there hearing them for any to come back: I can't make them work out of context.

In Britain I'm now fairly clued up but each year I have to reset the difference between Garden Warbler and Blackcap song - I just can't retain that pair over winter. Following up calls in the field so you know for certain what's making them is excellent practice (and practise 3:))

Cheers

John
 
I have no musical ear whatsoever, so it is possible to learn bird songs without it.

Just in case: recognizing bird songs is not like recognizing human songs, because first: the tone of the sound is very important, then it is not the whole song which matters, but only few crucial pieces.

Bird songs are more like glorified alarms or fancy melodies on mobile phones.
 
Back from yet another wonderful birding trip to Mallorca, I have decided I want to not only take photographs but also recognise which birds are singing.
In Mallorca I tried to memorise the bee eaters song (dl from wikipedia). I listened to it at least 10-15 times in the course of 3 days. I also tried to compare the song to something I know. So I thought it sounds a bit like jodelling. Then I actually saw a group of bee-eaters at Son Bosc and heard them, too. It just sounded nothing like I'd have recognised. The only birds I do recognise are blackbirds and sparrows as I've seen and heard them often.
Why can't they all have a distinct call like say a kookoo? 8-P

Anyway, long story short: Is there some "trick" that you recognise birds by their songs? What would you recommend for me to do to successfully determine a bird by its song?

I can't really offer much more than what you've done because for me when I hear a bird and I see that bird, following it through my lens for a while; it sticks and I don't forget it. I've only been taking real notice of birds for around a year now but I reckon I can instantly recognise the call of the vast majority I've seen, if not all. The one thing I always do, and it may help you, is name the bird as I'm walking down the path or wherever listening to them singing. 'Not because I particularly want to prove anything to anyone else, it's just nice to hear them sing and knowing which bird is making the sound.

'Doesn't mean I can't get caught out. Yesterday, I was pretty sure I had a new bird. 'Turned out to be a reed bunting. I've seen thousands of reed buntings over the course of a year but I've never heard them make that particular sound. I've also been caught out by sight, and the light that can shine on the bird at a particular time of the day in a way which is deceiving, I'm thinking of both pigeon and female reed bunting recently. But, if it doesn't stick, then why not have a little quiz as you walk and try and guess the singing bird? That way, it'll start to stick. You'll always get something wrong, however, as I did with a female reed bunting, which before I zoomed in on my picture I thought I had an hitherto undiscovered bird! The light was shining on her in such a way that made a bird I've seen thousands of times look completely different.

Edited to add: if you're out quite a bit watching birds and then editing the photos, then there isn't much time left for listening to songs on You Tube or wherever. Over the last weekend, I was out 7 in the morning 'til 7 night each day and then photo editing after, which doesn't leave much room for listening to songs. I suppose it depends on what is more important to you, but I can hand on heart say that the vast majority of birds I've seen I would instantly recognise their call and that's simply through hearing them, waiting for them to come into view and then following them through my lens. And, it follows that when you hear a new sound you're really keen to see what is coming into view and you don't forget it.
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 3 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top